The shortage of pilots threatens the ambitions of the growing aeronautical industry in the Middle East, warn analysts, forcing airlines to strengthen their recruitment efforts.
Up to 18,000 additional pilots required
Emirates wishes to hire 1,700 people
Riyadh Air joins the Battle of Talents
According to a management consulting firm, the world industry will lack nearly 80,000 drivers by 2032. The Middle East should be missing up to 18,000.
The shortage of talents was exacerbated by the Pandemic of COVID-19, which prompted many pilots to take an early retirement or to leave the profession while the fleets were nailed to the ground. If air traffic has resumed, the recruitment levels are still far from being reached.
Emirates has more than 4,400 drivers and plans to recruit additional 1,700 in the next three years. The Dubai airline is organizing recruitment tours in 26 cities in 18 countries this year.
The expanding order book of the airline increases demand. Emirates has 310 aircraft in preparation, with a fleet of Airbus A350 which should start to fly later this year and Boeing 777 which should arrive in 2025.
The Middle East also has a new airline that will have to compete with staff and passengers. Riyadh Air, owned by the Saudi public investment fund, is expected to start its operations in mid-2025.
The company wishes to recruit 700 pilots in the next three years. Last year, she organized recruitment campaigns in Saudi Arabia, Casablanca, Dubai, Paris and London.
Last month, Etihad Airways launched a recruitment campaign to attract hundreds of new pilots. Abu Dhabi’s airline has not published specific figures on its recruitment campaign, but it aims to double the size of its 2022 fleet by 2030.
Other regional airlines also have large orders. Turkish Airlines wishes to increase the size of its fleet to 813 devices by 2033. Flydubai awaits its order of $ 11 billion for 30 Dreamliner jets with large fuselage.
The Saudi airline at low prices swornly ordered 51 Airbus aircraft with a narrow fuselage in May. SAUDIA, one of the national carriers of the kingdom, at 105 jets en route d’Airbus, the first lot to be delivered in early 2026.
Throughout the world, airlines increase wages and benefits to attract and retain talents. In the United States, where the average salary of a pilot is around $ 250,000, Delta and other carriers offer wage increases of around 30%.
