Batten down the hatches - Pay policies home to roost

BESIEGED Ryanair has had to offer pilots up to €12,000 to forego some of their holidays.

This is a direct consequence of a worldwide shortage of pilots. Industry leaders at the Paris Air Show earlier this year were told that within a decade the global airline industry faces a massive shortfall of pilots. The world’s commercial fleet is expected to grow by 12,000 aircraft to roughly 37,000. This means 440,000 active pilots will be needed. Today there are just 290,000.

Better pay might avert that crisis.