The article ignores a small detail -- the global economic climate.
China, India and the Middle East are growing massively, and so are their aviation industries. The global pilot shortage is here to stay!
So a few US airlines have done a dumb thing or two, possibly built capacity that proved suplus to requirements (wouldn't be the first time some yanks get over-excited
), are are now being punished for it. Big deal! Hardly enough data to declare the pilot shortage over methinks
As always, the fundamentals are important: Pilot demand in the world's growing econonmies will increase for years to come, Australia will profit from this because of their strong position in the training market among other things.
The US is headed for some sort of slowdown, of course high oil prices don't help, and some companies will suffer, but a few hundred US pilots laid off will not make a big difference globally.
Air travel and freight demand will continue to grow globally, and fuel prices will need to rise another several hundred percent (!) until that demand will slow down significantly. Until then, prices at the pumps and the ticket counters will rise, but, for a lack of alternative, people will continue to book
AFAIK, there has never been a better time to become a pilot, especially on planks. The helicopter market is too small in this country to move quickly, but changes are beginning to be felt..