Interesting article and comments from UAL CEO. The link may or may not get you through to the entire article but you get the idea:

"United Airlines was forced to cut service to 11 secondary cities across the midwestern USA beginning in January due to the pilot shortage, the company’s chief executive officer says."

“It’s down to pilots,” Scott Kirby tells viewers of the Skift Aviation conference on 17 November. The pilot shortage is now real, we don’t have enough pilots to fly all the airplanes. It’s very simple.”

https://6park.news/idaho/united-cut-...-ceo-news.html

I honestly think it's only a matter of time before pilots get added to the skills shortage list and this would allow companies to sponsor visas.

stewartvwyk,

Hard to say where this will lead. The term pilot shortage gets kicked around a lot but with a rather unrefined definition so it's hard to say what's actually being discussed. The UAL CEO who was quoted as saying he didn't have enough pilots to fly the airplanes was addressing John Q. Public (where no nuanced definition is needed) and not the aviation community.

When I hear the term used, the first thing that pops into my mind is shortage of "what pilots ?". Being a cynic and skeptic, any time I hear shortage being alleged, I'll need to hear airline managements clearly state just what category of pilot they feel they're lacking.

While it's hard to say exactly what's happening at the regional level, it's plausible that the captain/LCA/sim instructor demographic is being tapped pretty hard by the legacies. If this supposition is correct, the shortage is of captains that it takes a minimum of 2 years to grow from scratch rather than F/Os who can be churned out in a couple of months. I can see where this would be a problem for the regionals.

I'd be very surprised to see the Big 6 career-destination carriers take in expats on visas. They just don't need to go that route. Green card holders ? Yep, all day long and twice on Sundays.

I’ve been getting some emails lately asking me to apply for a green card since the pilot shortage in the US is at a very high level. I did however contact their delegated immigration lawyer and was told that it would cost me $12,000 ( paid in 3 installments) and non refundable if rejected for Green card. Strange indeed .
I truly believe that they are trying to make money during these pandemic days.

I’d bet a months pay check you’ll never see expats hired by UAL/DAL/AAL or SW with anything less than a Green Card. They’d home grow them before they’d do that.

Interesting comments on regional pilot supply from some airline Big Wigs (no solutions, of course):

https://simpleflying.com/regional-pi...ge-united-ceo/

So the US big 3 offer early retirement to thousands of pilots then find themselves understaffed for the rebound. Solution, clean out the regionals and then cry pilot shortage!

Cryptic post but I'm guessing it's Piedmont ?:

https://jobs.flightglobal.com/job/14...mpaign=general

This bit of news isn't actually "regional" stuff but I can't find the thread for hiring/headhunting above the regional level (thought there was one). This is about a newly announced path from start to Spirit. It's sort of the traditional tickets/CFI/regional/something-above-a-regional path except it appears to eliminiate the regional touch & go:

"In just seven months, graduates of ATP's Airline Career Pilot Program earn their commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates, then through the Spirit Direct Program can advance straight to Spirit as Airbus first officers after 1,500 hours of flight time,"...


https://www.aviationpros.com/educati...tion-of-pilots

https://atpflightschool.com/airlines...-alliance.html

Any news on H1B for Canadians with these regional carriers?

Looks like Skywest is getting a little creative in their headhunting. I don't know enough to pass judgement on the legalities of this move but they must feel they're on solid ground:

"As a charter subsidiary, SkyWest Charter is not covered by the minimum 1500-hour experience rule for right seats, and neither is it bound by the 65-year-old mandatory retirement age. What's better for SkyWest Charter is that the first officers only need a commercial multi-IFR certificate and 250 hours, whereas the captains can keep flying until they fail their medicals."

https://simpleflying.com/skywest-sea...ilot-shortage/

I can see it now, some 250 hour SIC paired up with a 64 year old Captain. What could go wrong?

Spooky 2,

Yes. lots of room for debate on this one.

First of all, no one knows if it'll even get off the ground; It's just a concept at this stage. If it goes, it'll involve small numbers of people.

All else at this point is speculation and theorizing. But that's fun. I can't imagine this concept will run rampant through the regional sector.

This will be entertaining to watch.

Looks like Skywest is gettin' serious about this Part 135 thing. I'll be interested to see what the pilot group looks like:

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/n...-in-early-4q22

Appears US start-up ULCC carrier, Avelo, is doing some long range planning for pilot supply...with a twist:

"Through its referral network, Alliance Aviation will help bolster Avelo Airlines' numbers by recommending highly qualified foreign First Officer candidates for a possible visa or work sponsorship, employment, and obtaining reciprocal or advanced licensing in the US."

https://simpleflying.com/avelo-airli...e-partnership/

This topic was touched upon in another thread but I'll put it here just in case people might not have seen it elsewhere. Breeze Airlines has a form of cadet program helping people get from 1,000 to 1,500 hours and then on to Breeze itself.

There are a couple of unanswered questions but here's the gist. I'm just guessing there's some flight instructing required ? They don't specify outright what "...will work with our partner flight school..." involves.

Breeze isn't going to pay for people to just go drill holes in the sky for 500 hours ?



"Selected participants will work with our partner flight school vendor to exclusively build your last 500 hours towards ATP minimums quickly, with Breeze covering the cost of aircraft and fuel! Breeze Boost is a trial program with limited capacity."

https://startup.jobs/breeze-boost-jo...ays-tm-3567607

A bit more Breeze details:

https://startup.jobs/breeze-embark-p...ays-tm-2998010

PSA AIrlines
 

Anyone else got a start with PSA?

I've received a message from a lawyer on linkedin with the question if I'd be interested in getting a green card to work for Envoy, does anyone know if this is even legit?
I've never considered working in the US since it's a bit, in all possible ways to interpret this, far from home. I've been flying 737's in the EASA world for about 4 years now, so not even sure if it's worth the hassle going through all hoops getting an FAA license, new type rating, visa/green card, relocating and such to fly for a regional in the US. Any thoughts?

Breeze reply
 

Ladies and Gents

I just received this:Thank you for your interest in Breeze Airways and the Breeze Airways First Officer position.

This note is to advise you that we are not able to process your application because you have indicated you need visa sponsorship in order to work in the U.S. Due to the large number of applicants we have received, we are currently only sponsoring E-3 visas for Australian Nationals.

We may offer visa sponsorship again in the future, so please check periodically for any updates.

regards

Losbol