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David Thornton's avatar

We’ve had parts problems lately both for personal vehicles and the company plane. I’ve also run into problems finding rental cars.

With respect to airlines, the shortage has been looming for years. There was a hiring boom in the 90s and a bust that lasted more than a decade due to 9/11 and the Great Recession. As a result, a large share of airline pilots are nearing mandatory retirement. For a long time, the mandatory retirement age was 60, but the FAA increased that to 65 in 2007. Increased hiring, delayed retirement, and the pandemic pushed the crisis back, but airlines are feeling the pressure.

Add to the mix the increased cost of learning to fly as well as low compensation for introductory jobs. Compensation at the regionals is coming up, but it’s going to take time for all this to even out.

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Jay Berman's avatar

Scarcity is not new to us, but has not visited most of us in our lifetime. It has been the harbinger of other undesirable circumstances.

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