Airline sector crisis: Thousands of pilots lost their jobs during the pandemic, and their ranks haven’t been replenished

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Demand for air travel is back with unexpected force this year, but the supply of pilots isn’t there to match – and those who are working are sometimes pushing the maximum of allowable hours

restrictions were lifted: waiting halls bursting with luggage at Pearson and Trudeau airports, and travellers lamenting hours spent in line at customs and border control. In sum: robust demand trying to move through a much-diminished system of understaffed airports and airlines.

“It’s constant phone calls. I mean, there’s just a real need for anyone who’s a pilot or a flight attendant,” the aviation veteran said. The Globe and Mail agreed not to name him, or his employer, in order to allow him to speak freely and avoid any potential repercussions because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Perhaps the biggest reason why airlines are finding themselves short of pilots is that after being furloughed during the pandemic, most of them had to reboot their qualifications in recent months after the industry restart this spring. That training happens in both the simulator and in-flight with another pilot, and the process can take several weeks.

The plan didn’t materialize. Other national governments hatched industrywide plans and provided billions in financial aid for the sector, but Canada took a piecemeal approach negotiated largely one-on-one with each airline. And while the United States and other countries told carriers to keep their most critical staff on the payroll, including pilots, in preparation for a recovery, Canada did not.

Airline training departments have maxed out their capacity in recent weeks, he said. The result: not enough scheduled pilots on the roster, not enough reserve pilots on standby, and crew scheduling focused on “plugging holes at the last minute,” Mr. Perry said. “The operating environment globally is under pressure” from well-documented issues such as security and customs lines, and limitations on the number of flights imposed by air traffic control, Air Canada said in an e-mail response to questions. “The importance

New federal flight and duty time regulations for pilots that came into effect in December, 2020, have also delivered a curveball for airline scheduling departments. In short, the rules now limit flight crew work to a maximum of 112 hours over 28 consecutive days, 300 hours over 90 days and 1,000 hours over 365 days. The maximum flight duty period has also been reduced slightly and now takes into account the time of day work starts.

 

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