Global shortage of pilots will cause flight delays and cancellations

30,000 airline pilots will be needed each year for the next two decades to keep in-line with the growth that is expected from the air travel industry. If the shortage does materialise, it could leave millions of passengers stranded by flight delays and cancellation each year.

The developing countries will need the most new pilots, but European airlines will still need a large number of pilots to fill the future gaps that will begin to appear.

40% of the new pilots will be required in the Asia- Pacific region as China looks set to take over North America as the biggest consumer of air travel.

The Europeans will require over 100,000 pilots to be recruited as countries within the continent strengthen air travel ties.

This according to Boeing, the American company responsible for supplying most of the world's aircraft.

The company has made the forecast based upon the number of pilots currently qualified to fly measured against the number of aircraft currently being operated and the number of aircraft that they have on order, ready for building or delivering.

There are other factors to be considered when calculating the number of aviators that will be needed moving forward.

Rules around the number of hours a pilot can fly or the rest breaks they are required to take by law, also have to be considered.

One thing is certain, more pilots, more planes, equals more flight delays and cancellations.

Written by: Team Flight-Delayed.co.uk