The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has sounded the alarm. Over the next twenty years, it will be necessary to recruit 500,000 to 600,000 pilots. It must be said that, by 2044, the number of devices will double. According to Boeing figures, published in June and very close to those of Airbus, there should be 48,575 planes in the sky in twenty years compared to 24,500 today.
This trajectory, which seems hardly compatible with the fight against global warming, is reinforced by the succession of giant orders placed by the largest airlines. At the Dubai Air Show, which closed its doors on Friday November 17, Emirates caused a sensation with the announcement of the acquisition of 90 long-haul Boeing 777X aircraft for $52 billion (around 47.7 billion euros). at list price, to which are added 15 Airbus A350 jumbos, for an additional check of 5.5 billion dollars.
In June, at the Paris Air Show, near Paris, it was Airbus which took the spotlight with the order – described as“historical” – from Air India, 500 Airbus A320s for 44 billion euros. And that’s not all. Airbus and Turkish Airlines have reached an agreement in principle for 355 Airbus aircraft, for $53 billion.
Inadequacy of the training sector
This continued increase in the number of commercial aircraft is already causing “tensions on recruitment” pilots, observes Marc Rochet, president of Air Caraibes and French bee. A shortage has emerged since the relaunch of long-haul travel after the Covid-19 crisis. Because services to distant destinations are crew-intensive. When it is necessary, according to Alexandre Blanc, deputy general director of flight operations at Air France, “five crews, that is to say ten pilots, to take control of a medium-haul aircraft, twenty-one to twenty-four are needed for a long-haul aircraft”.
The war in Ukraine has not helped anything. The obligation to bypass Russia “extends routes from Europe to Asia and Japan by two hours. We are exceeding the limit of thirteen and a half hours of flight time, which is forcing companies to go from three to four pilots per crew”adds the boss of Air France crew members. “The lack of pilots is already a subject!notes Guillaume Hue, aeronautics specialist for the consulting firm Archery Strategy Consulting. This is even what limits the growth of airlines, well before the availability of planes. »
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