Has pilot hiring ever been worse?

[qwerty]

I'm young so I don't know any different.
Thanks!

 

[bobbysamd]

Pilot hiring

Yeah, it's been worse, a few times. The times I know best are the late-'80s-early-'90s, when I was trying. Hiring was going great guns at least from 1987. Then, that boom ground to a halt beginning in the summer of 1990; ironically, when I had my first interview.

I remember on that day how there was so much buzz about hiring stopping everywhere. That was the day after Iraq invaded Kuwait. I've read since that the early-'90s recession had begun. There was a little hiring here, a little hiring there, but commuter hiring ground to a halt in mid-1991. Factor in the Eastern and Pan Am shutdowns and those pilots competing for both jobs at the majors and commuter jobs. Hiring really didn't recover until maybe 1995. And, of course, the brakes has been put on that boom. Similar circumstances to 1991, if you view it that way.

There's always some hiring. You just don't see massive hiring booms that often. It's either big time feast or big time famine.

 

[LAZYB]

It's all relative... Like, if your neighbor gets laid off it's a recession - if you get laid of it's a depression.

 

[surplus1]

Yes! Once upon a time there were no commuters or regionals to hire low-time pilots.

Hiring has always been cyclical. Feast or famine.

 

[captjim]

Oh yes! Early 90's I remember being told I needed 1,000 hours to instruct! Yes it has been much worse. At least there is some movement with small jet carriers and regionals hiring. Its only a matter of time before things turn around. Timing is everything in this industry.

 

[SpeedBird]

My .02 cents:

For the old timers out there they'll remember how bad the entire decade of the seventies was for new hiring and furloughs. IMO, that was the worst period for pilot hiring.

Since this current downturn hasn't played itself out yet, it is hard to say if it'll be like the last one.

My gut feeling is this one could last a lot longer for those who'll have to wait for the furlough recalls to zero out, and the new hiring to start up again.

My best wishes to all who are waiting for their turn to get back out on the "diamond" and play ball again.

 

[WileE]

If I remember correctly.

I think 1904 was a pretty bad year overall.

 

[banned username 1]

Oh yeah....early '70s

Oil embargo, long gas lines, every airline had furloughed pilots, Boeing nearly shut down. I thought life as we've known it was over. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Stay tuned.

 

[FL510GV]

I think that's, "Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius"

 

[avbug]

The first part of every decade is slow, and this isn't by far the worst. This is average, really.

Things are picking up. I've been offered interviews or jobs from probably ten companies in the past month, and four jobs in the past week. (One of which I took on a temporary basis).

It's been a LOT worse.

 

[BigFlyr]

Hiring is not really that bad, which doesn't explain why I'm still unemployed but it has become extremely competative in that it is nearly imposible to get an interview anywhere without a letter of recommendation (prefferably three) from someone on the inside (prefferably someone you've flown with). I'm not sure how it is at the commuter level since they tend to have higher rates of attrition and therefore have to hire more heavily.

 

[bobbysamd]

Re: If I remember correctly.

I think 1904 was a pretty bad year overall.

Well, for that matter, except for a brief period in the '60s, there was never a pilot shortage. In 1903, the Wright Flyer needed only one pilot and there were two available!

 

[pilotyip]

Much worse

How about 1973-74, there were no airline jobs, Delta pilots took jobs as baggage smashers, Eastern pilots got contract jobs in the Iranian Air Force, lots of guys went back on active duty. Back in the old days airlines were mostly ex-military. There was nothing going on back then, except maybe this small overnight mail company out of Little Rock, Federal something, But nobody would want to work there, pay DA-20 F/O about $400 per month and then sometimes they did not even get a check. Who would want to work there?