By Lisa Gordon | April 22, 2024
Estimated reading time 1 minute, 18 seconds.
According to Boeing’s Pilot and Technician Outlook 2023-2042, a projected 649,000 new pilots, 690,000 new maintenance technicians, and 938,000 new cabin crew members will be needed to fly and maintain the global commercial aircraft fleet over the next 20 years.
It’s become a familiar refrain: In recent years, numerous reports have highlighted the surging demand for commercial pilots. In response, flight schools of all stripes are scrambling to increase training capacity and differentiating their offerings to attract as many would-be pilots as possible.
Here in Canada, flight training options run the gamut from family-owned schools, to clubs, to larger and more formal organizations affiliated with colleges and universities. Likewise, students can choose how they want to train. Options include self-paced training — where they earn pilot licences and ratings individually according to their own schedule — and accelerated programs that graduate “cockpit-ready” candidates with a post-secondary diploma or degree.
In the midst of this busy training landscape, Skies reached out to several Canadian flight schools to find out what they’re flying, who they’re training, and how they are attracting a steady stream of prospective pilots.
Continue reading this feature article in the February/March 2024 issue of Skies magazine.
