The accession pipeline in the US for new pilots, increasingly dependent on learning technologies, is being restored, and none too soon, as a pilot shortage is eyed toward the mid-part of this decade. Marty Kauchak reports.
Civil aviation remains on a turbulent path in the attempt to return to pre-Covid-19 operating levels. With lackluster passenger demand and the unsteady pace of restoring domestic and international routes, the industry is no longer facing the pilot shortage with which it was grappling just a few months ago. Reopened flight training programs, which increasingly rely on distance learning and other technologies to help select and retain aspiring pilots, are part of the strategy to help minimize a predicted next pilot shortage for later this decade.