Title: Commercial Pilot Demand and Supply in Australia over the next two decades
Argument for the research problem: Pilot shortage has become a global issue which is threatening the growth of the aviation industry (Freed, Setboonsarng, & Lampert, 2018). Boeing (2018) predicts that 635,000 commercial pilots will be in demand to sustain the aviation industry over the next two decades. Airlines in Australia are also under the impact of the global pilot shortage which results in flight cancelations, route eliminations as well as bankruptcy filings (Australian Aviation, 2018). As a result, airlines have been coming up with countermeasures. For instance, Qantas has announced to establish a new flight academy. Airlines are also raising salaries and expanding benefits to improve recruitment as another solution to the severe pilot shortage.
However, whether the Australian flight academies and airline industry have sufficient time and recourses to train and recruit commercial pilots to overcome the shortage in 20 years is an issue. Firstly, the constantly growing passenger demand outruns the growth in commercial pilot supply. Secondly, losing graduates from local flight academies to carriers overseas with better employee benefits package also reduces the commercial pilot supply in Australia. Thirdly, the difficulty and expensive cost of obtaining a commercial pilot licence shrinks the pool of individuals interested in pursuing a career as commercial pilot.
There are limitations for the Australian flight academies and airline industry in terms of overcoming the pilot shortage over the next two decades. Regulators should react to combat the issue by, for example, lowering the requirements of obtaining the Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) to increase the number of eligible and qualified pilots.
Aim: Therefore, this project, by examining whether the Australian flight academies and airline industry are capable of overcoming the commercial pilot shortage over the next 2 decades, aims to advocate the construction of a more comprehensive strategy with more solutions to tackle the issue of pilot shortage in Australia.
Null Hypothesis: The investment in pilot recruitment and training made by the Australian airline industry and flight academies is not sufficient to overcome the commercial pilot shortage over the next 2 decades.
Alternate Hypothesis: The investment in pilot recruitment and training made by the Australian airline industry and flight academies is sufficient to overcome the commercial pilot shortage over the next 2 decades.
Research Question: Is the investment in pilot recruitment and training made by the Australian airline industry and flight academies sufficient to overcome the commercial pilot shortage over the next 2 decades?
References
Freed, J., Setboonsarng, C., & Lampert, A. (2018, June 6). Pilot shortage forces Qantas to put jumbo jets on domestic services. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airlines-iata-pilots-analysis/airlines-struggle-with-global-pilot-shortage-idUSKCN1J20XK
The Boeing Company. (2018). Pilot Outlook: 2018 – 2037. Retrieved from https://www.boeing.com/commercial/market/pilot-technician-outlook/2018-pilot-outlook/
Australian Aviation. (2018, July 24). AIRLINES TO NEED 635,000 NEW PILOTS OVER NEXT 20 YEARS: BOEING. Australian Aviation. Retrieved from http://australianaviation.com.au/2018/07/airlines-to-need-635000-new-pilots-over-next-20-years-boeing/
