I began contributing to this blog several years ago, and since then I have been pointing to the cyclical nature of the Airline Industry and aviation in general. We have gone from the depths of the worldwide recession and its affects on every industry, to watching the Airlines charge back to profitability and prosperity. As the Airlines, both passenger and freight carriers alike, have regained their momentum there is an often stated need for new commercial pilots that will stretch into the next few decades and beyond.
The obstacles that have prevented aspiring professional pilots from beginning flight training are becoming easier to get around. As a result, now is the time for anyone who has that unquenchable desire to fly to prepare to grasp the opportunities that are available now in commercial aviation. These opportunities will potentially lead to multi-million dollar careers flying this country’s airliners into the future. To summarize, here are some of the reasons why now is the time to pursue aviation as a career:
- - Businesses are recovering
- -The demand for air travel is increasing, locally and globally
- - The Credit Crunch is easing
- - All areas of commercial aviation are recovering and fueling expansion
The facts and figures that economists use to gauge America’s business activity show that the economy is powering out of the worst business-strangling recession in almost a century. Businesses are cautiously beginning to hire again and are getting back to expanding and making money. As businesses expand and more jobs are created, consumer spending is recovering, including spending on air travel for passengers and air freight. An increase in the demand for air travel translates into the need for more aircraft to fly in, and more Professional Aviators to safely pilot them.
Boeing is the world's largest aerospace company and the world leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners. They predict as part of their annual look at the demand for Airliners over the next few decades that the demand for air travel will grow almost 5% this year and will continue to grow at that pace for the next twenty years. In almost twenty five years of making these predictions Boeing has not been wrong.
Also of interest: Airbus, the FAA and the International Air Transport Association say the same thing.
One of the recession-caused shocks to our economy was a suffocating tightening of the availability of credit in this country. Student Loans to fund flight training became extremely difficult to qualify for. There never has been a lack of interest in becoming a Professional Pilot but suddenly lenders who had made flight training possible began to disappear.
ATP at that time became the only flight training academy even serviced by most large lenders and these lenders became very difficult to work with for students of all backgrounds. ATP also took the lead in trying to find different sources of funding for flight training and innovated several approaches to easing the financial burden for students entering the field of aviation.
The good news is that all of the hard work is paying off. Along with other efforts, ATP has partnered with Mountain State University (MSU) to provide top notch nationally accredited academics along with the best fundamental and advanced flight training available outside of the military. This has also allowed more access to financing that is easier to qualify for.
Business and Corporate Aviation is recovering and expanding. The Major and Legacy Airlines are recovering and expanding. The Low-Cost Carriers are recovering and expanding. The Regional Airlines are recovering and expanding. Flight Training is recovering and expanding.
With all of this come more flying jobs for those willing to pursue them.
"The world’s airlines will need more than 17,000 flight school graduates each year for the next 20 years to fill the seats of the aircraft already on orders that are secured by non-refundable deposits.”, according to Boeing.
Begin flight training now to take advantage of the long-a waited opportunities to fly for a living. If you do, you will be ready to take advantage of the larger opportunities that will be available in the near future and beyond to fly the best modern and future airliners for a living.
