IN-DEPTH: US Aviation ‘Going Off a Cliff’ Unless More Pilots Step Up, Get Better Training, Capitol Hill Hearing Told

The cost of becoming an airline pilot is sky-high—in excess of six figures in many cases.
A large chunk of the cost comes from a decade-old requirement: pilots must have 1,500 hours of in-flight experience to be certified.
Yet many aspiring aviators are racking up the required hours by circling airports under sunny skies. Instead, they should be learning skills they will need to respond to changing weather conditions, equipment failures, and other inflight challenges.
At the same time, some aviation leaders worry that too few pilots are filling America’s pilot-training pipelines; regional airports have been hit hard, with hundreds of jets parked because they lack pilots to fly them….}