At United Air Lines recently put 100 aircraft on hold. But this isn’t an indication of pilot careers going down the tubes. On the contrary, it’s only indicative of the changes that are currently going on in the industry. While the major airlines are cutting down, the regional airlines are in full bloom. The routes that are run by major airlines with large airplanes and low load factors are being taken over by low-cost regional operators whose airplanes are almost always full. One example of this transition occurred as recently as March 9, 2004, when United Air Lines announced agreements with three regional airlines to begin operating United Express routes this year. As a result of this agreement, Republic Airlines will fly 16 70-seat regional jets (RJs), Chautauqua Airlines will operate 16 50-seat RJs and Shuttle America will utilize 10 Saab 340 turbos under the United Express logo.

The following article is reprinted from Plane & Pilot Magazine with permission from the May 2004 issue.

We invited leading industry representatives to our offices in Los Angeles for a conversation about the future of cockpit careers. Here’s what they had to say:

After September 11, pilot careers in 2001 looked bleak. Newspaper articles confirmed the airlines were hemorrhaging red ink, thousands of pilots had been furloughed and new hires appeared to be a thing of the past. While the media continues to talk about the tough times in the commercial air-travel industry, many insiders think the tide has turned.

Ever thought about doing something spectacular as a career? Being a commercial pilot is not as hard as you might think, and the demand for pilots due to the growth of regional airlines and corporate aviation travel is making this a great opportunity. The demand for aviation college flight instructors is about to improve, too.