SWISS Continues Expansion and Pilot Hiring

SWISS continues growing. In addition to the two further Airbus A330s, whose acquisition has already been communicated, Switzerland's airline plans to add three more Airbus A340 aircraft to its long-haul fleet in the next two years. With the arrival of these five new aircraft, SWISS will operate a fleet of 23 long-haul aircraft.

This planned expansion will also create 550 news jobs among SWISS's flying personnel.

As of this summer, SWISS will operate a fleet of 72 aircraft serving 70 destinations worldwide.

Pilots Needed for China's Airlines

Forecasts indicate that the Chinese mainland will need more than 3,000 passenger aircraft and freighters through 2025, some 2,050 single aisle aircraft, nearly 600 smaller twin-aisle aircraft and over 200 intermediate twin-aisle aircraft plus 180 very large aircraft.  And how many pilots will they need to fly these aircraft? 6,000? 10,000?

China is hiring pilots from China, from Chinese-speaking countries, and also from non-Chinese speaking countries.  The need for pilots is great. Are you interested?

Airbus predicts that the Chinese mainland passenger fleet will more than truple in the next 20 years, making it the world's second largest aviation market. According to the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) estimates, the gratest demand for the next 20 or more years will come from the U.S. and second, from China.

Experts say that China will need at least 240,000 civil aviation experts. Today, in the U.S. more than 700,000 people are working for  aviation companies; the number in China is approximately 200,000.

Pilot Hiring Fairs in the US

When a prospective student calls Phoenix East Aviation with questions, one of those questions is often "are airlines hiring pilots?"

The answer is an unequivocal "Yes." For example, and just one example of many, (see other blog articles on this subject), more than 400 pilots recently met 70 representatives from 32 major, national, regional, foreign, fractional and crew leasing airlines for the first Airline Pilot Career Seminar, Airline Forum, and Job Fair, held at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.

Pilots met with key hiring representatives of airlines. Air Tran, for example, spoke with 135 pilots and set up nearly 50 interviews to be conducted in their Atlanta offices. Republic Airlines spoke with attendees and even interviewed pilots on the spot.

AIR, inc. predicts 8,500 or more new airline pilot jobs will be created in 2007 -- new jobs -- which is even more than the 8,200 new jobs created in 2006.  And the airlines are not anywhere near finishing hiring -- they're actually just beginning to ramp up: there will be another such job fair in Los Angeles soon.

Is There an Advantage to Using Good Simulators in Flight Training?

When a flight school tells you they don't use simulators, that, instead, students are always trained in the air, guess what? That could be because it's such a small school that they can't afford simulators. And maybe they want to train you when they're not busy selling aviation fuel or repairing aircraft.

Is this the kind of training you want when your dream is to be a pilot for one of the world's great airlines? At Phoenix East, training in simulators is part of the high quality instruction you receive. We use Frasca flight simulation equipment. And we do so for good reasons -- because they give pilots everything you need on the ground to prepare for anything you'll face in the air. That's why they re a global leader in flight simulation.

....another reason students prefer Phoenix East Aviation for professional flight training. 

What About Those Cheaper Flight Schools?

Some flight schools offer great prices on their web sites, but when students arrive for planned training, they find the flight school fleet consists of only a few aircraft -- and they are old and outmoded and spend more time in the maintenance shop than flying with students. And even when they are available, students find themselves struggling to compete with other students for flight time. The result is too much waiting to get on the schedule, and too little flying. At Phoenix East Aviation, we've had transfer students tell us that they just gave up on some of these cheaper, local, non-professional flight schools because they were not able to fly often enough to make it worthwhile.  This sad story is told over and over; it's especially sad when we hear it from a European or Asian student who has training goals to meet -- and time restrictions based on his or her visa.

Phoenix East Aviation has a large fleet of new and late-model Cessna single-engine 172-SPs and Piper twin-engine PA-34 Senecas, some even with the G-1000 glass cockpit advanced avionics systems. We have a highly efficient computerized flight scheduling system, which means you are able to pretty much fly as much as you like....think of it this way: If it takes you 20 months at a cheaper flight school to complete what you can complete at Phoenix East in 10 months -- you can save 10 months worth of rent, food, utilities, etc. What's that worth? $10,000? 13,000? More? Plus, how much money could you make at a job for that 10 months? Another $30,000? Even more?

So who offers the most cost-effective -- and professional training -- when you consider both time and money? Decide for yourself. Check out www.pea.com.

US and International Airlines Now Hiring

All major US airlines are now hiring pilots, according to Chris Lehman, Editor in Chief for Civil Aviation Training magazine. He sites a global boom in commercial airline orders, aggressive recruiting of North American pilots by overseas carriers, and continued high rates of retirements, as fueling this hiring.

With global airline fleets expected to double by 2025 -- to over 35,000 aircraft -- it's clear that the number of pilots needed will more than double. It is also believed that the Very Light Jet (VLJ) may also spark significant additional hiring of pilots, as nearly 1,000 VLJs will be delivered by 2010. Expanding overseas carrriers are in such need of pilots that they are  conducting job fairs in the US and promising a much quicker entry to the left seat, as aircraft captain, of the new generation of aircraft, plus in most cases, offering better salaries.

Northwest Airlines To Hire More Pilots

Northwest Airlines had to cancel 1,000 flights recently, or more than 100 a day, because of pilot shortages and bad weather. The airline plans to fix that problem by reduoubling its efforts to increase its pilot hirng, plus modifying trip schedules.

Are you interested in becoming a pilot, so you can be one of the lucky new hires for Northwest or other airlines? Call Phoenix East Aviation, one of the few nationally accredited flight schools in the US, for more information. You could be in uniform and training at Phoenix East in Daytona Beach, Florida, as soon as next month. Call and talk to one of our Admissions Officers at 800-868-4359 or visit our web site at www.pea.com.