Aviation Job Market Better Than People Think According to Aviation Hiring Firm!
With over 325 aviation companies surveyed, nearly 90% expect to hire in 2011 according to an annual survey conducted by JSfirm.com. The majority of these positions will be filled in the second quarter of 2011. JSFirm (www.jsfirm.com) is an aviation hiring firm that conducts an annual survey of aviation operators regarding project growth and hiring. Managing Partner, Sam Scanlon of JSfirm was asked how he would describe the job market. Scanlon proudly reports, “It is better than people may think. The report indicates exactly what we are seeing on our site; there are mor jobs being posted every day.”
Another sign that the economy is thawing and more opportunities are available in the aviation industry. Read the survey results here.
Robinson Helicopter Company Press Release First Sign of Helicopter Industry Economic Recovery
On January 20th, 2011, Robinson Helicopter Company released a two paragraph press release simply titled, “Robinson Helicopter Sales Growing Stronger.” You might be asking yourself, I don’t want to buy a helicopter, so why do I care? Keep reading.
Given the economy, the last few years have been hard for everyone, and the helicopter industry is no exception. Helicopter manufacturers are in many ways the ‘canaries’ in the mine of the helicopter industry. When manufacturers are doing well, operators have money they are reinvesting in their operations and/or expanding their fleets. When the industry is not doing well, nobody buys new helicopters.
The release stated, “By mid-year (2010), the (unsold) inventory was gone and the company saw a surge in new sales.” This is important because after the economy collapsed in 2008, Robinson wasn’t immune from the aftershocks. As a matter of fact, when Silverstate Helicopters imploded, Robinson had a substantial inventory of aircraft that Silverste ordered, but never picked-up for delivery.
The fact that Robinson has cleared its inventory is a substantial marker in the economic recovery. It’s taken nearly 2 ½ years, but Robinson has returned itself to a “backlog of 162 aircraft.” Also significant is that 40 R-22’s are on back-log, indicating that even after Robinson cleared their inventory, there were still more orders for R-22’s.
Granted, many R-22’s go overseas; but those sold in the United States are used primarily for flight training. If flight training operators are expanding, then there is opportunity for new instructor pilots.
As a prospective helicopter pilot, you definitely care when there are more helicopters requested than can be produced. You especially care when all those new helicopters need new pilots! When operators are shopping for helicopters to expand their fleets then they’re also shopping for pilots.
This is one indicator of economic recovery, and by no means indicates a return to the days of easy money in 2007 where pretty much any helicopter pilot with 1000 hours could get hired. We’re in for a long recovery, but this seems to indicate the worst days are behind us and the economy is transitioning from ‘bust’ to ‘boom.’
If you’re thinking about becoming a helicopter pilot, this is definitely a good sign. If you’re waiting for the economy to recover before you start your career, you might not want to wait much longer (because so is everyone else). Those that invest just as the economy returns to prosperity have the greatest opportunity to succeed, because there is the least competition for jobs.
Even if you started tomorrow, you have at-least 10 months of training through our accelerated intensive training program. After completing the flight training, you’re looking at an additional 12 to 18 months to build up to 1,000 – 1,200 flight hours.
You are at-least two years away from being employable as a professional pilot, flying a turbine helicopter. If the economy’s already showing signs of recovery now imagine the potential over the next two years!
If you want to be one of the first to capitalize on the economic recovery, speak to one of our program advisors by filling out the form on the left or calling us at 888-685-7405.