Aviation expert sounds warning on pilot shortage

IRISH airlines will find it “challenging” to recruit enough pilots to meet demand for flights in the coming years, an expert has warned.

With the world facing a pilot shortage, the three Irish-based air companies will need up to 570 pilots next year alone, according to the chief executive of the Waterford-based Pilot Training College of Ireland.

“It’s going to be quite challenging to be able to fill the numbers,” said Mike Edgeworth, speaking at the launch of the college’s new flight simulator centre at Waterford Airport Business Park.

Already one of the three biggest pilot training facilities in Europe, the college hopes to increase its output from about 200 graduates next year to 1,000 in the next decade.

“The demand is going to way outstrip supply, which is why we’re very excited about this development here,” said Mr Edgeworth.

He predicted Ryanair will need 400 new pilots next year, Aer Lingus 120 and Aer Arann 50, while airlines throughout Europe will have to find 15,000 new pilots over the next five years: “We can’t see a reason why, in five or six or seven years’ time, Waterford Airport won’t have a thousand students. Everything is in place.”

The training boss said the numbers of pilots needed in the coming years was “staggering”.

“It’s forecast that there will be a crisis in the next 10 years in terms of pilots, worldwide,” he said.

The college in Waterford now has more than 80% of the Irish pilot-training market, following its foundation in 1999, with students from 25 countries at the moment. Yesterday it became the first Irish facility to install the technologically-advanced Mechtronix Ascent Flight Trainer.

Closely replicating the Piper Seminole PA-44 aircraft, it features a visual system that provides locally-generated weather, moving models and special effects to enable student pilots experience flying conditions as close as possible to reality.

Mr Edgeworth said Ireland has become an attractive place for pilots to train because of the free availability of airspace and its proximity to large countries.

Centre manager Captain Kyle Johnson said that the use of simulators for pilot training was growing worldwide. “With our new simulator, which represents the first of a number of planned installations, we are positioning ourselves at the forefront of this development.”

Yesterday’s launch was performed by Social Affairs Minister Martin Cullen who described the pilot training college as a “significant facility” for Waterford and for Ireland. “It’s part of a business that’s only to grow in the years ahead. The demand that is there for pilots, the demand from all of us for more and more travel is going to continue to grow, therefore good quality pilots are going to be in very serious demand.”

Mayor of Waterford city Cllr Mary O’Halloran said that the Pilot Training College of Ireland is a “vital asset” to Waterford and to the region as a whole. “It plays a pivotal role as one of Europe’s leading training establishments,” she said.