MANSFIELD — Hundreds of children tagged along with their parents for Mansfield’s Airport Day to gawk at locally owned and operated airplanes at Mansfield Lahm Airport. But most of them, if not all, did only that.
“Most of the people asking questions about getting flying lessons are older folks,” said Galion Air Inc. Flight Instructor Dave Storm.
According to Storm, the profession and hobby seems to cater to an older generation, despite a “major shortage of pilots in the country.”
“There’s a real need,” Storm said.
In fact, more than 30,000 airline captains are quickly approaching the mandatory retirement age of 65. The major U.S. airlines could start feeling the shortage of pilots in as little as three years, Bloomberg News reported late June, citing a study by the University North Dakota’s Aviation Department.
The Air Line Pilots Association noted a Boeing report that forecasted the world’s aviation industry will require 558,000 new commercial airline pilots between now and 2034. North America’s need represents a 95,000-pilot shortage in the same report.
ALPA estimates salaries for beginning pilots at around $20,000 per year. Major airlines pay their pilots an average of $135,000, on up to around $200,000 — which only happens after steeping into debt that could reach upwards to $100,000.
For Regional Airline Association members, salaries for first officers can reach up to $42,000, according to RAA President Faye Malarkey Black.
Storm has a hunch the decline in interest can be attributed to the altitudinous cost associated with getting a license.
“It’s not cheap,” he said, adding it could take up to $7,500 to gain a private pilot’s license through Galion Air Inc. once everything is totaled.
That figure includes the instructor’s rate per hour, the airplane’s cost to fly per hour, books, oral and flight exams and a physical. Storm said trainees need at least 40 hours of flying hours before getting a license.
All of those rates drop dramatically if someone buys a share in the company for $4,000. Currently, Galion Air Inc. is supported by around 30 shareholders, Storm said.
“We all choose to spend our money the way we want to do it,” he said.
But, of those spending their money on flying, most are older men. Storm estimated the average age represented in Galion Air Inc. is 55.
“I have two 16-year-olds in training right now,” Storm said. “But they can’t take their check ride until they’re 17.”
A check ride, also called a practical test, is the portion of a Federal Aviation Administration’s examination where the trainee flies an aircraft with a Designated Pilot Examiner.
New — and cheaper — interests
Perhaps 16-year-olds are more interested in driving a car — or flying unmanned aircraft systems (drones) with a remote controller.
According to the FAA’s first operational rules released June 21, 16-year-olds could acquire the proper certification to operate small commercial drones — free of charge.
Too good to be true? Think again. Here’s a Richland Source article exemplifying local drone business, Hysight’s, excitement for the new rule.
“We don’t charge for courses,” FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said.
Just like the airline industry is in need of pilots, the drone industry is in need of operators, engineers, photographers and construction surveyors.
A 2013 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International study found that 70,000 jobs will be created within U.S. drone integration’s first three years, with an economic impact reaching $13.6 billion.
“This benefit will grow through 2025 when we foresee more than 100,000 jobs created and economic impact of $82 billion,” reads the study.
Companies such as Amazon and Google — even the U.S. Air Force — are hiring now, and the pay is comparable to what a pilot who flies planes makes. Emergency services are also a major employer of drone pilots.
An article by The Verge reported in March the number of drone pilots working in the country has increased from 500 to 4,000 since June 2015.
USA Today reported in February drones flying in the sky have eclipsed the number of piloted aircrafts.
According to the FAA, the drone operator owns 1.5 drones on average.
Local opportunities
Both the commercial pilot and the commercial drone industries will continue to seek new ways to recruit young talent. There are local examples.
The Mansfield Aviation Club announced in June its plans to offer Aviation Scholarships to local pilot aspirators.
“As the cost of flying has become more expensive, many who had the dream to become a pilot may have found it beyond their financial means,” reads a club press release. “It is our hope that these scholarships will enable some of those individuals in the Richland area the opportunity to fulfill their dream and keep general aviation in our community vibrant into the future.”
MAC will present its first scholarship during Mansfield’s 2017 Airport Day Celebration.
Galion Air Inc. does not offer its students scholarships, but they approve new students on a rolling basis.
Mansfield’s drone company, Hysight Technologies, is currently seeking to fill 15 positions for unmanned aerial vehicle pilots.
