PeppyJeppy
Can I suggest you maybe rephrase your post ever so slightly I hear "pilot shortage" way too often?
Using the phrase “pilot shortage” suggests there simply are not enough pilots when in fact there are way too many pilots on the planet. Way more than enough to cover all the current and future flying requirements for some years.
Certainly in Europe we have been training something in the region of 4-5 times the pilots required to fill all the vacancies. There are 000’s of folks trained and unemployed in the UK alone, let alone the rest of Europe.
Although you mention 3000+ hour folks as the main requirement it has been shown today that <100hours in an actual a/c is all you need to fly an A330, check out Virgin Atlantic, busting that myth to a certain degree.
I would suggest however that in fact what there is, is a lack of incentive for the qualified folks to move onto pastures new allowing the less experienced guys finally get onto the ladder. Nothing more, nothing less. That is by no means a shortage. Similar to what you have said I know just rephrased.
The only area I can see where they are trying to incentivise folks is China. A few years back it was $150k for a Captain, today I have seen >$300k. Is this enough, only time will tell but as I say there are way more than enough to take on these positions.
Also you mention that budget carriers have a shortage of Captains. If you rephrase that they have plenty enough SFO's to upgrade however the incentive is not there......this is not a shortage.
THERE IS NO IMMEDIATE OR PENDING "PILOT SHORTAGE" PERIOD!!!!