American Airlines Will Experience Pilot Shortage Until December 2021

According to American Airlines, the series of delayed and canceled flights was only a one-time event. Canceled and delayed flights were caused by bad weather coupled with the recent spike in travel demand. But is this the case? If you’ll ask the Philadelphia chapter of the Allied Pilots Association, this could extend until December of this year.

In a letter to Philadelphia pilots, Allied Pilots Association said that “Initial forward-looking data suggests that management has published and sold a schedule through December 2021 that it likely does not have the proper staffing to execute”.

For American Airlines, they are optimistic that they can resume normal operation. Shanon Gilson, American Airlines’ spokeswoman said in an email that “Pilot training remains on track and we remain focused on providing our pilots with the training they need as they return to the operation”. Also, the email mentioned that furloughed pilots will be able to complete their training by the end of June.

2019 Level Travel Demand

American is having 5,800 flights daily. That’s 10% shy from 2019 level. Unfortunately, from June 18 to 21, American canceled approximately 400 flights. Half of these canceled flights were due to manpower shortages. Then, you also have flights canceled due to the weather.

However, American Airlines isn’t the only airline that also canceled flights due to the bad weather during that weekend. Southwest also canceled 281 flights. But unlike American Airlines, Southwest only had 3,200 fights scheduled on that day. Also, American Airlines currently has 4,500 fewer employees today than in 2019.

Training Backlog

According to a letter by Philadelphia pilots union Chairman Paul Di Orio and Vice Chairman Kevin Wilkes, “While the Boeing 737 is scheduled to fly 35% of the total block hours scheduled for July through December, the 737-training program has a massive backlog”. They added that “Many of the pilots required to fly those hours are simply not legal to fly”.