A national shortage of pilots has airlines scrambling. More than 1,400 openings are projected each year over the next decade. But aviation programs cannot keep up with demand.
The Sioux Falls Regional Airport has fared better than other airports across the country but is still feeling the effects. Dan Letellier is the executive director.
"With the volume of people who have been flying, planes have been full, and that bodes well for us trying to hold on to the level of service we have," Letellier said. "It does really just come down to, the retail carriers just don’t have all the pilots they need to fly the routes.”
Commercial pilots are required by federal regulations to log at least 1,500 hours before receiving their license. Letellier said it’s difficult and expensive for new pilots to get these hours.
Laureen Mehlert teaches aviation classes at the Career and Technical Education Academy in Sioux Falls.
“The schools are not — because most schools are a four-year program — we’re just not graduating enough students to fulfill these needs,” she said.
But Mehlert doesn’t see the hours as a barrier to her students who want to pursue their commercial license.
“I think the kids look at that as just the cost of getting into what they want to do. We all need experience, so I don’t think they see that as a stumbling block," Mehlert said. "They just see it as, ‘These are the requirements I need to make, and how am I going to get there?’”
Mehlert said the aviation courses she teaches to high schoolers give them a jump start in their career path.
Marcus Helland, a junior in Mehlert’s class, is already working on his private pilot’s license.
“I’m a motorhead," Helland said. "So anything that moves, it just always catches my eye. If I can get hands-on with a plane and learn something else besides just driving a car, it would be one other thing I can have in my arsenal of things to do.”
Helland plans to finish his flight hours over the summer. He will have to complete 40 hours of flying for his private pilot’s license.
