From the regions

Pilot Shortage bites

The aggressive and ongoing pilot recruitment strategy, particularly from international airlines, has seen an increasing pressure on regional airlines who are losing senior and experienced pilots. As the recruitment spreads to the major carriers, the trickle-down effect has seen further pressure being applied to our sector.

In a double whammy, the latest government reform to Australia’s temporary and permanent sponsored skilled migration programs had a significant detrimental impact on our short to medium pilot staffing plans. The government announced in 2017 that fixed wing pilots, rotary wing pilots and Avionics engineers were no longer eligible as to be included on the Skilled Occupation List. Needless to say the RAAA and others lobbied for an opportunity to present some data to support our contentions that there were in fact critical shortages in these skilled occupations. We have had a partial win in that these occupations are now included on the Short Term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL).