Recent editions of FI and FTN make for interesting reading regarding the FI shortage.
The "Industry" as a whole has engineered as that fellow in the FI article put it - "the only thing you need to get into the RHS of a jet these days is a mastercard". The airlines discovered the "pay for your type rating" route was a good little way of saving money in the era of "budget airline". No longer do you need to have gained flying experience as an FI/Air Taxi pilot to get that first job with the airlines.
The flying schools have to take blame too. FI wages have been kept low for a long time - the £15 per flying hour wage has been around too long. The result is now we have an FI shortage the increase in wages required represents a significant increase in the cost of learning to fly.
Add on top of that the regulatory authorities introducing the requirement to hold a CPL to paid for instruction and you further reduce the numbers of people who consider taking up Flying Instruction. I just read a recent edition of FTN where somebody quite rightly questioned why you had to know how to navigate a 747 over the Atlantic and how many fire extinguishers it needed in order to teach someone for a PPL in a 152. The problem will only get worse once the Multi Crew License comes to fruition. You will have even more pilots unable to go down the FI route.
The answer is complex and is probably going to result in the next generation of trainee pilots having to spend more to achieve their dream.
1. The regulators need to re-introduce the old BCPL to enable people to be paid to teach PPL without a full CPL/fATPL.
2. Flying Schools need to pay Instructors a fair wage so people can make a living from it.
3. The airlines need to adopt some sort of quota systems for recruitment to ensure that in the long run the are able to meet recruitment requirements. Take on such a percentage of people with a Multi Crew License, a percentage of experienced on type, a percentage of low hours integrated paid for type rating sorts and a percentage of modular people who have gone down the FI/Air Taxi route. At the moment the Integrated/Type rating route seems to be the preferred option of the airlines so thats the way people are going.
At the busy airfield I instruct part time at I am the youngest FI on the airfield - I am age 30. Of the 8 Instructors on my clubs board 4 are BCPL holders. 5 are over age 50 and one is over age 70. These fellows aren't going to be around much longer and there replacements arent on the horizon.