A post-pandemic surge in hiring at major airlines has led to more pilots taking control of larger planes with which they have less experience, leading to potential safety issues, according to industry experts and pilot unions.
Major U.S. airlines have added nearly 10,000 pilots so far this year, putting them on pace to break last year’s record number of pilots of more than 13,000, according to data reported by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
These figures are more than double the 4,977 pilots hired in 2019, and well above the roughly 5,400 hired in 2021, which was the busiest year for pilot hiring at major airlines in decades, the data show from FAPA.aero.
The major U.S. airlines often recruit pilots from regional airlines, meaning that while new hires still have extensive flying experience, they may have spent less time piloting the larger aircraft common in the major airlines’ fleets.
“We’re facing a lot of challenges right now just because of the good times — the amount of movement, the rapid amount of hiring and seat changes among incumbent pilots,” Garth Thompson, president of the union representing United pilots, told the Journal.
‘I’m afraid it could be unsafe if it’s not handled properly. But I do think it’s on the radar and some pretty smart people are working on the problem,” Thompson added.
Major U.S. airlines have added nearly 10,000 pilots so far this year, putting them on pace to break last year’s record number of pilots of more than 13,000
A pilot’s novelty with a specific aircraft model, known in the industry as “juniority,” is a well-known but elusive risk factor closely watched by airlines and regulators (file photo)
An FAA spokesperson told DailyMail.com in a statement: “We closely monitor airline safety data and have not seen an increase in incidents due to pilot experience levels.”
Federal regulations require that all pilots in both seats of a commercial cockpit be fully qualified to fly that aircraft. The FAA says its 1,500-hour experience requirement for pilots is the strictest in the world.
Yet the novelty of a pilot flying a specific aircraft model, known in the industry as “juniority,” is a well-known but elusive risk factor that has been closely watched by airlines and regulators during the industry’s post-pandemic workforce surge.
After the last major fatal crash of a U.S. passenger plane in 2009, the Transportation Department’s inspector general found a link between accidents and pilots’ experience with the aircraft type, the Journal said.
The analysis of 322 aviation accidents between January 2000 and December 2009 found that fewer accidents involved pilots who had more time to fly the aircraft make and model in question. The report found no correlation with overall flying experience.
The recent pilot hiring boom has also seen some pilots promoted from first officer to captain more quickly in the past.
A spokesperson for the union representing American Airlines pilots told the Journal that recently some pilots have been promoted to captain in less than 18 months, compared to a wait of four to five years prior to the pandemic.
At Delta Air Lines, some pilots have reportedly been offered captain positions in their first year with the airline during periods of rapid growth.
“These upgrade times are insane right now,” Kit Darby, a pilot recruitment and careers consultant, told the Journal.
In August, passengers evacuated a plane in Atlanta after a landing gear fire, in an incident that is reportedly being investigated in connection with the pilot’s experiences with the plane model
A first officer who had just completed his training on the Boeing 757 was landing one of the jets in Atlanta when at least one of the landing gear tires blew out during landing
Delta told DailyMail.com in a statement: “Delta’s commitment to safety is innate and deeply at the core of our operational approach.”
The airline said that “safety comes before every operational step at Delta” and that it is working closely with federal authorities to conduct and share data analysis on safety-related topics.
United Airlines said in a statement: “Our pilots are trained to the highest industry standards and we continually analyze training performance to improve our programs and promote the highest level of proficiency.”
Spokespeople for American Airlines and Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment from DailyMail.com on Tuesday morning.
The latest data on pilot hiring and promotion follows a number of high-profile safety incidents and close calls, although it is difficult to definitively link these to pilot experience.
In one case in August, a Delta first officer who had just graduated was flying the Boeing 757, one of the jets in Atlanta, when at least one of the landing gear tires blew out on landing, people familiar with the matter said. the case. the news.
The plane’s anti-skid system malfunctioned, which normally would not prevent the plane from flying but may have contributed to the blowout if the pilot relied too heavily on the brakes instead of the thrust reversers, the people said.
Following the blowout, the landing gear caught fire, prompting an emergency response effort and the evacuation of passengers via emergency slides, but there were no reported injuries.
Delta told DailyMail.com about the incident: ‘Delta is proud of the way this flight crew handled the situation on August 2, as well as the efforts of our airport teams to get customers safely to the concourse and on their way to their final destination. ‘
A Delta internal investigation into the incident found that the crew acted within established procedures, including handling the plane, a person familiar with the matter said.
FAA officials told the Journal that so far this year, the number of safety incidents, including those involving pilots new to the make and model, has not increased this year, compared to last year or 2019.
However, after a number of chilling incidents, a Senate panel plans to hold a hearing on close calls in US aviation on Thursday.
On July 2, when a Southwest Airlines flight landing at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was seconds away from hitting a Delta Airlines 737 preparing to take off from the same runway
On July 11, two planes taking off in San Francisco almost crashed into a Frontier Airlines plane that had just landed. The Frontier plane waited to cross a runway with its nose dangerously close to the path of the two jets
A third incident two and a half weeks later involved a near miss between an American flight and a United Airlines plane near Minden, Louisiana.
According to FAA data, there were 46 close calls between aircraft in the US in July.
Examples of this included several cases of aircraft nearly colliding with each other during take-off or landing at major US airports. Others include a near-miss in mid-air between two planes traveling at more than 500 miles per hour.
Industry workers blamed a shortage of air traffic controllers, forcing many in the profession to work mandatory overtime.
According to the New York Times, as many as 99 percent of air traffic control facilities in the US are understaffed, showing that 310 of the 313 are not adequately staffed.
Some, including the regional office in New York and a tower in Philadelphia, are operating at about 60 percent of staff or less, according to the report.
The FAA responded to the Times report by saying it had hired 1,500 controllers for the 2023 fiscal year, which ended in September.
That was in addition to more than 2,600 air traffic controllers undergoing various levels of training at air traffic facilities across the country.