[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Tobra

If you want to talk about looking shortages, you should be talking about doctors

And engineers. Kids aren't taking STEM or other more challenging programs in college anymore, at least not American kids. With looming retirements in the next decade there is going to be a huge hole to fill, and I don't know who will fill it. We already have a hard time finding good engineers, and very few of them are in their 20s or 30s.

The pilot shortage is real, but I doubt we ever see an impact to our travel schedules. The airlines are simply going to be forced to pony up and cover a portion of the expenses associated with flight school and building hours. For decades they've been able to push the responsibility off on the individuals to pay for schooling, and then use the regionals as their farm team. To entice more young pilots, they are going to need to shift that model. Think scholarships for flight school, with a planned path that has you spend X years at a regional before graduating to a full blown major airline 2nd officer gig. Removing the barrier to flight training and putting a known path to good money in place would be a great start.