Based on recent hiring trends, the future for professional pilots is looking up. An aviation career fair and conference in Orlando, Florida, outlines how professional pilots can make their next move while students learn how to start an aviation career of their own.
“The next 20 years will be the most lucrative pilot hiring market we have ever seen,” said Future & Active Pilot Advisors president Louis Smith, a retired airline captain and organizer of the Nov. 20 event.
Smith said the industry job expo and Focus on the Future conference at the Doubletree Orlando Airport will illuminate the positive outlook for pilots already in the industry. Students and parents will learn the cost of obtaining a four-year degree at an aviation college, including some of the scholarships that are available.
Airlines, flight training schools, and universities will be at the event to answer questions and provide interview coaching.
Allegiant Air, Ameriflight, Crew Resources Worldwide, Sun Country Airlines, and UPS Airlines confirmed their attendance. Regional airlines coming to the aviation jobs expo include Air Wisconsin, Envoy Air, SkyWest Airlines, and others.
According to Smith, the major U.S. airlines have entered a hiring frenzy in the last five years. New pilot positions have rapidly risen from 408 in 2010 to a projected total of 2055 new jobs in 2015. That’s a whopping 500 percent increase.
Smith said job fair attendees will find out about the projected numbers of pilots to be hired at the major U.S. airlines, and they can balance that with the knowledge of financial security down the road. “The estimated career earnings for a 30-year old newly-hired pilot at the major airlines will exceed $8 million, not including generous retirement and other benefits,” Smith said.
An additional Future & Active Pilot Advisors job fair and career conference is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2016, in Miami.
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