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It will come around again
Originally published Feb. 21, 2000
Airlines relax pilot hiring rules
But safety isn't compromised, experts say
By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
How're airlines doing?
A booming job market for pilots is forcing airlines to ease hiring requirements - making room for college dropouts and those who wear glasses.
"It's a feeding frenzy right now," says Tim Kirkwood, president of Universal Pilot Application Service. "It's a pilots' market. They can go wherever they want."
For the industry, January marked the single biggest month of pilot hiring since AIR Inc., an aviation job-finding service, started keeping records 20 years ago.
Aviation experts say easing requirements hasn't compromised safety because those hired typically have hundreds of flight hours and better qualifications than federal regulations demand.
"There's been no laxity of standards of proficiency," says Paul McDuffee, vice president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
However, some airlines are making it easier. Examples:
United dropped its $50 application fee as of Jan. 1. Those who don't get jobs can reapply after six months, instead of 12 . Candidates who need glasses can take the eye exam: The eyesight standard was changed from an uncorrected 20/100 vision to a corrected 20/20.
TWA stopped requiring pilot candidates to have a four-year college degree last year.
Commuter carrier American Eagle, American Airlines' commuter subsidiary, reduced by a third the minimum flying hours for applicants last year. Now, it's 1,000 hours, of which 200 hours have to be in a plane with two or more engines. In the past, it was 1,500 hours total, 300 hours multi-engine.
The average hire has 1,750 hours, says spokeswoman Elizabeth Ninomiya.
Southwest cited the "competitive climate" for pilots in no longer requiring candidates to be certified to fly a Boeing 737, the only kind of plane the airline operates. Pilots now have six months to earn the certification .
Factors behind the hiring boom include growth of the corporate jet market and fractional ownership programs, and retirements of pilots hired in the 1960s.
Also, a federal rule related to rest time for stand-by pilots was changed last year, forcing major carriers to hire more pilots.
United Airlines, for instance, is looking to hire 900 to 1,000 pilots this year, double the number it expects in 2001 or 2002, says spokesman Joe Hopkins. Yet applications have fallen 42%, to 7,000, compared with a few years ago.
Airlines also are promoting pilots faster. AIR's Kit Darby says the new hires in the majors are being promoted to captain in as little as three years, compared with the 8-year to 10-year wait of the past.
Originally published Feb. 21, 2000
Airlines relax pilot hiring rules
But safety isn't compromised, experts say
By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
How're airlines doing?
A booming job market for pilots is forcing airlines to ease hiring requirements - making room for college dropouts and those who wear glasses.
"It's a feeding frenzy right now," says Tim Kirkwood, president of Universal Pilot Application Service. "It's a pilots' market. They can go wherever they want."
For the industry, January marked the single biggest month of pilot hiring since AIR Inc., an aviation job-finding service, started keeping records 20 years ago.
Aviation experts say easing requirements hasn't compromised safety because those hired typically have hundreds of flight hours and better qualifications than federal regulations demand.
"There's been no laxity of standards of proficiency," says Paul McDuffee, vice president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
However, some airlines are making it easier. Examples:
United dropped its $50 application fee as of Jan. 1. Those who don't get jobs can reapply after six months, instead of 12 . Candidates who need glasses can take the eye exam: The eyesight standard was changed from an uncorrected 20/100 vision to a corrected 20/20.
TWA stopped requiring pilot candidates to have a four-year college degree last year.
Commuter carrier American Eagle, American Airlines' commuter subsidiary, reduced by a third the minimum flying hours for applicants last year. Now, it's 1,000 hours, of which 200 hours have to be in a plane with two or more engines. In the past, it was 1,500 hours total, 300 hours multi-engine.
The average hire has 1,750 hours, says spokeswoman Elizabeth Ninomiya.
Southwest cited the "competitive climate" for pilots in no longer requiring candidates to be certified to fly a Boeing 737, the only kind of plane the airline operates. Pilots now have six months to earn the certification .
Factors behind the hiring boom include growth of the corporate jet market and fractional ownership programs, and retirements of pilots hired in the 1960s.
Also, a federal rule related to rest time for stand-by pilots was changed last year, forcing major carriers to hire more pilots.
United Airlines, for instance, is looking to hire 900 to 1,000 pilots this year, double the number it expects in 2001 or 2002, says spokesman Joe Hopkins. Yet applications have fallen 42%, to 7,000, compared with a few years ago.
Airlines also are promoting pilots faster. AIR's Kit Darby says the new hires in the majors are being promoted to captain in as little as three years, compared with the 8-year to 10-year wait of the past.
