Who is recruiting right now ?

[Hogos]

I know that it sounds like a silly question, especially in this drammatic scenario, with thousands of experienced pilots on the ground. But I'm sometimes reading and hearing that some airlines, despite the situation, have opened again the recruitment, even if they ask for billions of hours.
I would like to use this thread to keep constantly updated the recruitment situation around the globe, regardless if the company X is looking for TREs, or fresh students.
If airlines start taking experienced captains, it's anyway a start, maybe slow, very slow for newbies, but still a start.
Maybe today is gonna be a very short list, in the future will be denser.
Why not just googling ? I'd prefer rumors from people instead of the web.

[Banana Joe]

Luxair are looking for pilots for the summer season, so only a temporary solution.
Many experienced pilots have the hassle of lack of recency. Wizz are asking for at least 300 hours IFR in the last 12 months, and I'm afraid not many meet this requirement. Other recruiters might ask for a flight on the relevant type or ops in the last 6 or 12 months, similar hassle.

[Contact Approach]

The problem many are going to have going forward is being able to meet all the criteria for the available position. Unfortunately completing flight training can't account for some of it. For example Luxair require you have completed some sort of military service and be an EU national. Others require fluency of both English and that of the carrier. It's going to be slim pickings for the majority for sometime i'm afraid. That's how it really is, not what you hear at flight school. If you don't believe me try doing some job searching for yourself and you'll see.

[PilotLZ]

When you only have a handful of positions available and there are gazillions of potential applicants for them, the only way to make the recruitment task more or less manageable is to introduce very specific criteria and enforce them strictly. Nobody has the time to read through 2,000 applications for 2 openings, let alone conduct assessment of any sizable fraction of the applicants. Hence, the potential stream of candidates is narrowed down to just a trickle by setting requirements which only few can meet.

[PinguGoesFlying]

Not sure I agree, airlines want to set the bar low & encourage loads of applications, then they can screw pay & terms down.

The US needs a degree, its the only continent that does, they also need 1500hrs, something the airlines have been trying to overturn for years, as it holds pilot wages up, the unions lobby to keep that requirement, as it benefits their existing members, at the next generations expense

[Contact Approach]

Thats how you protect an industry. The next generation isn’t cut loose whatsoever. Compare the average SWA FO salary to a Ryr FO salary.

[PilotLZ]

Right now, when demand for new pilots is at an all-time low and will stay this way for a couple of years, it would be the perfect time to raise the entry requirements for qualifying as a pilot. GA in Europe is not as developed as in the USA, so the 1500-hour rule won't really be plausible for Europe, but requiring at least a college degree in a technical subject would be reasonable. Of course, with grandfather rights, allowing those who have obtained their licences before a certain date to keep them, degree or not.

To those who think that higher education is too much to require from a pilot, spare a thought about the many, many countries where this has always been the case. Even in Europe, pilot education in many countries was in the form of a degree before PART-FCL kicked in. And the older generation of aircraft were nowhere near as complex as the modern (although highly automated) ones. Not to mention that, some decades ago, pilots were just that - pilots. There were other crew members to take care of aircraft systems and navigation. Some 15 years ago, this was still the case in many Eastern European airlines which flew Soviet aircraft right until late 2006.

[FlyingStone]

There are multiple problems with requiring a degree from a pilot:

Higher education isn't free in many countries and requiring this would just put more debt to be paid off on top of pilot training cost (in case of the UK student loan system), or create an even higher financial barrier to this profession, where a loan/state-sponsored education system is not an option.
There is no demonstrable case to be made that a pilot with a degree is a safer one. Time studying a technical subject (say how much would a double PhD in chemistry help the pilot in dealing with an emergency?) would be better spend to in-depth studying of aviation subjects, or even better - hands on flying, such as UPRT et al.
Degrees tend to take at least 3 years of studying full-time, which means at least 3 years without any serious income and reduced earning ability for 3 years, with effective mandatory retirement age of 65. That doesn't seem fair.

[Contact Approach]

2) Perhaps the future of air travel will dictate Pilots become more well-rounded rather than just one dimensional. This is apparent from Covid with most having to drive delivery trucks due to a lack of experience/knowledge in other fields.

3) Anyone could complete an entire ATPL programme whilst also studying a degree, it’s not difficult.

[HEJT2015]

Yes, I too would love an additional £40k debt.. :ugh:

[FlyingStone]

Contact Approach

Sure, it's nice to have a degree or other skills as a backup plan, I just don't see how they would necessarily contribute to a safer operation of aircraft in commercial transport, unless they are at least somewhat related. Pilots aren't driving delivery trucks because they aren't qualified enough to fly aircraft, it's because there aren't flying jobs around. Big difference.

[Chief Willy]

Having a degree is more about developing a different way of critical thinking (as opposed to just being spoon-fed at school) which is why it is valued by employers. It has applications in our profession when dealing with complicated situations without an obvious answer.

Depends on the quality of the degree though I suppose. But it is very different to the way ATPLs theory subjects are typically taught.

[Banana Joe]

A degree is a piece of paper. If you don't have the right attitude the piece of paper won't give you any.

A degree in Economics or Engineering won't help much in system knowledge if you don't study the FCOM. I don't have a degree but I'm quite confident in my system knowledge, just like many other pilots that don't hold a degree. Just an example.

[Contact Approach]

I think the point to make is not “how will a degree make me a better pilot” because as we know that isn’t the case. The point to make is: “would a degree make me a more versatile and well rounded professional”. No one knows what the future holds as far as operating in the capacity we do now. Being a pilot is a very niche skill set and arguably quite useless when there are no planes flying.

[Denti]

I don't think anyone in Europe will require a college degree. However, it has its uses, not the degree itself, but the requirement to learn to think in a specific way, learn to ask questions and research and learn on your own is actually not a bad thing to have. Not everybody needs to get a degree for that, but it has a proven record to get through that process.

Thats how you protect an industry. The next generation isn’t cut loose whatsoever. Compare the average SWA FO salary to a Ryr FO salary.

Apples and oranges. One country vs. 30 or so, each with its own sets of labor laws, hard to unionize due to constant movement across borders, unions do not have a leg to stand on in some of those countries. And of course a drastically different management style.