While this opportunity has been created because of a difference in retirement ages in India, there likely are U.S. pilots who have left the profession for many reasons with still years available to legally fly commercially. It makes sense for airlines to comb their retiree lists and reach out to those with a special offer to return, as even for just a few years this could make sense.
The subsidy better be good, though, as 50-seat jets are not the most economic airplanes out there. Removing 40% of the seats doesn’t make the plane burn much less fuel or change the airframe’s weight. It does take away a lot of the revenue opportunity, making a marginal plane that much more challenging. Without the subsidy from the EAS program, it’s likely this strategy would never model out.
This summer is likely to see many challenges operationally due to lack of staff. Airlines have trimmed summer capacity even as demand stays strong, forcing fares to rise. Bringing pilot availability in line with pilot demand will likely take a creative mix of pay, regulatory reform, training support, and time. These ideas show just how true that necessity is the mother of invention, as airlines are figuring out all ways to get pilots into cockpits in the next few months.
How about teaching the pilots wife’s to fly. Having couples flying together would make pilots quality of life better
Using new 135 operations for a 121 EAS carrier just to help the 500 hour guys doesn’t make sense. 121s should contract with actual 135s as a hiring pipeline. 500 hours is very hard, but the next hours come quickly.
Thanks goodness they don’t have to reverse park…
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