Pilot employment figures for 2001 are in, and the aftereffects of September 11th and a weakening economy combined to drive hiring numbers down sharply. According to AIR, Inc, by the end of December, the airlines had 6,932 pilots on furlough, which is 7.33 percent of the estimated 97,571 pilots with airline jobs earlier in the year.
While December is traditionally a slow hiring month anyway, the 14 major airlines didn't add a single pilot, and only four of the 14 majors expected to hire any new pilots any time soon.
Activity elsewhere wasn't much better, with the national level airlines hiring just 78 pilots for the month, jet operators 21 and non-jet operators 63. The fractionals were the busiest segment in December, hiring 102 pilots. In all, the industry generated 298 jobs in December.
For 2001, the airlines hired 12,766 pilots, the vast majority before September 11th. AIR, Inc. projects that the airlines will hire around 6,000 pilots in 2002.
In January the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics released its report on December's airline activity, and it wasn't a pretty picture. According to the report, there were 18 percent fewer scheduled flights in October of 2001 than in October of 2000, though those fewer flights did arrive on time more frequently, with an 85 percent on time performance versus 76 percent in October of 2000. The operating revenues of large air carriers fell 17 percent in the third quarter of 2001, with operating expenses falling only one percent in the period. In September 2001, passenger load factors were down 10 percent for domestic flights and 13 percent for international flights.
The report underscored the impact of 9/11 on all commercial aviation-related jobs, with employment in air transport jobs falling 2.8 percent in October and 3.6 percent in November.