In the last 2.5 yrs, pay for 747-400 capt in China went from 16K-22K/month.
Pay for small Airbus capt went from 14K-16+K. Even ERJ-145 capts make 12K net in china now.
Some US regional airlines new hire classes are half full, with over 1/2 no-shows at interviews.
American Eagle (a regional) just announced lowering minimums to 500 Total Time/50 multiengine airplane. With that experience level, Eagle will PAY for a new-hires jet transition course at a vendor, and then you will start in Eagle training when the outside course is complete-1st time US airlines have done this since the '60s.
The Eagle guy I talked to said they would have been OUT of applicants in Oct, and were getting only 1 application/day. He said they have called everyone who was previously turned down, everyone in their database, even if their info was years old, and were calling guys at other regionals to come over. To try and improve their situation, they just announced that everyone at Eagle who joins by this Fall will get an automatic seat in an American Airlines new-hire class down the road.
Eagle is the biggest US regional, and hence needs the most pilots...
cliff
HNL
PS-Heard from a different guy that KAL will not make their new-hire quota this year...
PPS-The Eagle told me that, last year, in ALL of the US, the FAA only issued 500 commercial licenses. The numbers of student, private, commercial, instrument, and ATP licensees has been declining steadily the last 12 years here.
And, over 1/2 of last year's USAF pilots were sent directly to UAVs, with no manned aircraft training whatsoever.