Title: Employment motivation of airline pilots in the USA

Authors: Kenneth P. Byrnes; Tim Brady

Addresses: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd. Daytona Beach, FL 32114, USA ' Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd. Daytona Beach, FL 32114, USA

Abstract: The airline industry is currently experiencing a high volume of airline pilot retirements. As a result, there is a large demand for new airline pilots. Many regional airlines are reporting that there is a pilot shortage in the airline industry since they are having difficulty hiring enough qualified pilots to meet their demand. Conversely, research has shown that there is a sufficient number of qualified pilots in the USA to meet the current and future demand. The purpose of this descriptive study was to quantify the motivations of the entire ATP/commercial pilot population and to specifically identify the reasons why two-thirds of the ATP/commercial pilot population have decided not to seek airline employment. The results suggest that insufficient pay is the primary reason that pilots choose non-aviation careers and that an increase in starting salary would motivate many qualified pilots to seek employment at regional airlines.

Keywords: airline pilot employment motivation; pilot supply; pilot shortage; pilot salary; USA.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAM.2016.088067

International Journal of Aviation Management, 2016 Vol.3 No.4, pp.249 - 265

Received: 30 Jun 2016
Accepted: 17 Jun 2017
Published online: 20 Nov 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article