As Ryanair rushes to recruit 125 pilots within a fortnight, the scale of the challenge it faces is revealed by data published by Indeed, which shows 26.6 percent of pilot vacancies take more than 60 days to fill. Comment Mariano Mamertino, economist at the global job site, Indeed.
With air traffic growing at 4.4 percent per year, demand for trained pilots already exceeds supply. Pilot roles are 60 percent more likely to be hard to fill than the average UK vacancy, according to data released by Indeed, the world’s biggest job site
Airlines’ soaring demand for pilots is already outstripping the supply of trained aviators, resulting in more than a quarter (26.6 percent) of pilot vacancies taking more than 60 days to fill. That’s the finding of data published today by the world’s biggest job site Indeed.
The proportion of pilot vacancies deemed ‘hard to fill’ – i.e those still open after being listed for two months – is 60 percent greater than the average for all UK jobs, of which just 16.6 percent are hard to fill. Mariano Mamertino, economist at the global job site, Indeed, comments: “According to Boeing’s latest outlook report, the airline industry will need more than 500,000 pilots to meet ‘extraordinary’ demands over the next 20 years.
“The fact that pilot roles are so difficult to fill indicates a strong need for a talent pipeline in this sector. With the demand for air travel showing no signs of stalling, the aviation industry may need to think about creative ways to train and retain pilots both now and for the future. “On the other hand the high proportion of pilot roles still open after 60 days could also point to a higher than average turnover, indicating increasing competition among airlines for seasoned aviators – and a need for constant hiring and re-hiring.”
While demand for pilots exceeds supply, other roles in the airline industry are easier to fill. Just 11.4 percent of aircraft mechanic and 12 percent of aeronautical engineer roles took more than 60 days to fill. The Indeed data also showed that while 15.3 percent of flight attendant vacancies were still open after 60 days, there are three jobseekers searching for every one flight attendant role available, indicating a surplus of talent.
Table: Proportion of aviation vacancies that are ‘hard to fill’ (open for over 60 days)
Job title |
Percent Hard to fill |
Pilot |
26.6 percent |
Flight Attendant |
15.3 percent |
Avionics Engineer |
15.1 percent |
Aircraft Maintenance Technician |
14 percent |
Aeronautical Engineer |
12 percent |
Aircraft Mechanic |
11.4 percent |
UK national average for all jobs |
16.6 percent |
