AIR, Inc.

ATLANTA, GA – Aviation Information Resources, Inc. (AIR, Inc.), the largest and most reliable source for airline pilot information, released the airline pilot hiring numbers for 2008 this month in its 2009 Airline Pilot Hiring Forecast, attached.

“Airline pilot hiring in 2008 was the lowest we’ve seen since the 2002-2003 period after 9/11, which produced 5,845 and 4,743 respectively. Only 6,479 new airline pilot jobs were added in 2008,” said Kit Darby, President of AIR, Inc. “With the softening economy, the credit crunch, the housing crisis, and ever increasing fuel prices, the future for the airline pilot job market was nothing but grim in 2008.” However, just as quickly as we saw this down turn materialize out of the best of times–good times will return. This has always been a cyclic business and this cycle has started more abruptly than any downturn other than the one initiated by the terrorist events of 9/11.

The National airline sector was untouchable and for the tenth year straight led in pilot hiring, adding 2,601 jobs in 2008, followed by the Majors with 1,316 and the Non-Jet Operators with 900. As we watched the hiring numbers decrease for 2008, we also watched the furlough numbers increase, from 2,548 in January to 4,494 in December.

The attached forecast reflects the history of U.S. pilot hiring from 1999 through 2009E, organized by different career categories: major, national, jet regional, non-jet regional, fractional, upstart, and training. According to its forecast, AIR, Inc. estimates up to 5,000 new airline pilot positions for 2009.

The straight math trend for the last 3 years predicts 9,297 new pilot positions for 2009, which could go higher depending on the domestic and international economies, and three other main forces - pilot retirement, airline growth and foreign demand for U.S. pilots.

Pilot retirement at the majors will remain lower than normal over the next five years as existing pilots start working until age 65 rather than age 60, reducing total retirements over the next five years by about 5,000 to 10,000 or about 1,000 to 2,000 pilots per year. Fleet plans are in a state of flux as passenger and freight airlines try to align themselves with current market conditions. Significant increases in aircraft utilization could create a demand for additional pilots or recalls without new aircraft deliveries. Reduced utilization would have the opposite affect. For additional information on airline pilot hiring – past, present, or future – contact Kit Darby at kdarby@airapps.com.