The aviation industry has a bit of a pilot problem at the moment.
During the pandemic, airlines were desperate to cut their costs and remain above water, but because many of them took federal aid, they were prevented from laying off or furloughing any employees. Instead, a number of pilots either retired or took buyouts. Delta (DAL) – Get Free Report alone saw about 17,000 employees, or 20% of its workforce leave in this fashion.
Even before the pandemic, the demand for global travel was outpacing the pool of available pilots. But once the world started to slowly open back up when covid vaccines became available, airlines found themselves shorthanded, which led to waves of flight cancellations and delays. Making matters worse was the fact without having enough experienced pilots on hand, there weren’t enough people to train the next generation.
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