"May Not Be Found Until Next Year"... Pilots Become 'Precious' Amid Travel Chaos

Airlines Anticipate Recovery from COVID-19 Losses Amid Increased Air Travel Demand

As the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and travel demand surges, a recent situation has arisen where a U.S. airline is facing difficulties securing pilots, leading to flight cancellations or delays.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Woo-seok] As the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, travel demand is surging, but global airlines including those in the United States are facing difficulties in securing pilots, according to an analysis.

On the 19th (local time), according to the US online media Axios, there have been flight cancellations and delays due to an imbalance between airline demand and supply in the US.

Recently, the number of travelers using airlines has increased sharply. According to the travel application Hopper, the number of US airline passengers in June this year increased by 50% compared to the same period last year and rose by 25% compared to the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) also announced that more than 2 million passengers passed through airports on the 17th, ahead of the public holiday Juneteenth. TSA explained that this number was 100,000 more than during Memorial Day (May 30, US holiday).

However, the US airline industry is struggling to cope with the surge in travel demand due to labor shortages. According to Axios, the airline industry reduced its workforce by encouraging senior pilots and flight attendants to take early retirement during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak due to reduced travel demand, but is now facing difficulties as demand has recovered faster than expected.

In this situation, regional US airlines Piedmont and Envoy are making efforts to secure personnel by temporarily increasing pilots' wages by 50% until August 2024.

American Airlines has promised wage increases for 14,000 pilots flying major routes, and Alaska Airlines and United Airlines opened flight training schools earlier this year and are also providing financial support for aspiring pilots.

However, the labor shortage remains. On the 17th, CNN reported that 9,000 flights were canceled in the US due to labor shortages and other reasons. Delta Air Lines canceled 248 flights on the 19th, and American Airlines also canceled 96 flights.

The industry expects that it will take a considerable amount of time to resolve the recruitment difficulties.

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, said, "The pilot shortage is a reality, and most airlines do not know how many flights they can offer because of the lack of pilots," adding, "This could last for at least five years."

Azam Ismail, CEO of Malaysia Airlines, also said in an interview with Bloomberg, "It will take up to a year to resolve the labor shortage."

Meanwhile, airlines around the world are expected to recover losses incurred during the COVID-19 period thanks to increased air travel demand.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicted that the global airline industry suffered losses of $42.1 billion (about 54.4 trillion KRW) in 2021 due to the impact of COVID-19, but this will decrease to $9.7 billion (about 12.5 trillion KRW) this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.