At the Aviation Festival Americas 2019 event held in Miami from May 14th to the 15th, Scott McCartney, reporter, author and creator of “Middle Seat”, a Wall Street Journal publication moderated this key panel. In this occasion, Mr. Espen Høiby, CEO, OSM Aviation and René Armas Maes, Vice President, JetLink International joined the panel.
The discussion focused on a potential disconnect between the number of pilots needed and the number of aircraft to be delivered in the next years. As new technology in the cockpit and faster pilot training might probably be inevitable in the future, a collaborative effort among aircraft manufacturer, new technology innovators, simulator manufacturers, training specialists and regulators might be right path forward to overcome this key industry challenge.
“How to access, train and secure enough competent people to support this industry’s rapid and tremendous forecasted growth will be one of the key challenges every airline will be facing. However, most people growing up today are faced with limitless career opportunities, and if we wish to attract talents to our industry, we need to reinvigorate the status of a career in the sky, offering tailored, high quality and affordable pilot educations in combination with employment security and complete career paths”, said Espen Høiby, CEO OSM Aviation.
“Aircraft manufacturers have begun studying autonomous flying technologies. In addition, key aircraft manufacturers have expressed interest in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning (among other technologies) in the cockpit as well as moving forward toward digital interfaces. It is believed that in the future, they could help to shorten the amount of time it takes to train pilots, helping to ease the shortage. Moreover, in order to continue growing their order books, businesses and aircraft deliveries, at least two key aircraft manufacturers are exploring new technologies to accelerate training. But in order to move quickly, the industry needs to work proactively with regulators to mitigate effects of delayed regulation”, said Mr. René Armas Maes, Vice President at Jet Link International LLC and Chairman of Aviation Festival Americas 2019.
