Crew Shortage and Opportunity: A Pilot’s Perspective

BizAvIndia (BAI): Why did you pursue a career in aviation?

Alex Molteno (Alex): My father owned a share in a Piper Cherokee 180 that he flew for fun. He was a farmer, but he loved to fly, and took me with him everywhere, mostly local trips around Cape Town in South Africa where I am from, and occasionally to Johannesburg. My parents encouraged me to get a business degree, but flying was the one thing I was passionate about. Getting paid to fly was an exciting prospect!

BAI: What was your first job as a pilot?

Alex: I was hired by FleetAir, a charter and freight services company in South Africa. The aircraft I started on was a single-engine six-seat Piper Cherokee 6-300. I had to master high speed approaches flying the smallest aircraft that was operating out of a large international airport with many daily movements at that time. I moved up the ranks at the company and was rated on twin engine aircraft such as the Seneca 3 and Cessna 402, as well as the Caravan 1, which was the first turbine engine aircraft I flew. The company had contracts with FedEx to fly freight at night to Namibia and back. Daytime flights were mostly charters that including flying hunters on trips around Southern Africa and mine workers who fell ill and needed to be flown for medical services.

BAI: What do you most appreciate about working in corporate aviation?

Alex: Corporate flying offers a lot of advantages. You stay in nice hotels and see many different parts of the world. The diversity keeps it fun and exciting: It could be Russia, China this month, South America and Australia next month. It’s unlike regional airlines where you fly the same routes back and forth, kind of like a windshield wiper, which is how I’ve heard some airline pilots joke about it before.

There is also a lot of schedule flexibility. With a top tier corporate job you typically work three or four weeks on duty, followed by 3 or 4 weeks off duty which allows you to spend extended time with family after your allocated time on duty.

As for salary, you can see a higher salary sooner in corporate aviation than at airlines. After only a few years its not uncommon for younger pilots to be upgraded to PIC with a jump in salary. At airlines 7-10 years or longer was not uncommon in the past to have the seniority required for an upgrade to PIC. With a shortage of pilots and retirements, this is changing though and also Airlines salaries tend to catch up and exceed Corporate salaries towards the later years of an airline pilots’ career.

BAI: We continue to hear about a pilot shortage in the private aviation world. Does your own experience bear that out?

Alex: There is an increasing demand for pilots across the board and not enough pilots to fill positions. Expensive training costs and low starting salaries are some barriers to entry. I had heard that even Emirates had parked some aircraft temporarily due to crew shortages a while back. But I think the outlook for Corporate Aviation is still good if employers are willing to pay a little more to entice pilots to fly for them.

BAI: What do you think the industry can do to solve the pilot shortage?

Alex: Increasing pay for sure. Also, enticing young people when they’re still deciding on a career path. Some airlines in Europe work with students straight out of school. The students sign an employment contract together with a training agreement for the entire cost of their training, which is repaid to the company with a certain number of years of service to that company. This is a major incentive for young people to turn to aviation that wasn’t previously available in the industry.

BAI: How do you find work?

Alex: Former employers, word of mouth, other pilots that fly the same type of aircraft, and companies like ACASS that actively recruit pilots to match employer requirements. Pilots also network more and more on social media.

BAI: Are there any parts of the world where you see opportunity increasing?

Alex: When I started flying in Nigeria in early 2009, there were about 50 corporate aircraft operating there. By the time I left, there were probably in excess of 250 aircraft operating in and out of the region regularly. The market in Brazil/Latin America did have some growth but we might have seen the top of the cycle now in some regions, where demand is cooling off a bit. Demand follows cycles and seems to shift largely due to economic conditions and politics in the country at the time. But opportunities are still there and its always exciting!