The Regional Airline Association (RAA) has released a statement addressing the detrimental impact of the shortage of pilots on regional airlines, in response to Great Lakes Aviation’s suspension of operations.

Once serving numerous routes and employing 1,600 individuals, the airline has faced a worsening pilot shortage and was forced to suspend all scheduled flight operations on 26 March.

The RAA said the airline’s suspension of operations means several communities and hundreds of passengers have been left without air service.

RAA president, Faye Malarkey Black, said the problem of pilot supply is endemic throughout the regional airline industry: “As unprecedented numbers of major airline pilots reach mandatory retirement age, those airlines are hiring regional airline pilots at a rate that outpaces the supply of new pilots entering the pipeline.”

In addition, an element of the 2013 First Officer Qualification Rule, which emphasises high flight times for pilot qualifications, has made the career pathway longer and narrower, the association said, increasing training costs and creating a new barrier for entry.

The RAA said pilots may now spend as much as US$200,000 for education and training and up to two years between graduation and hire accumulating flight time.

The association highlighted in the statement that pilots do not receive additional training during this time, “the emphasis on flight hours has translated into reduced proficiency among pilot candidates qualified for hire,” adding, “In fact, airlines now fail out more pilot candidates than before the rule.”

“A pilot’s lifetime earnings are higher than ever, and the ROI on training is excellent – better than doctors and lawyers. Unfortunately, most Americans lack the wealth or ability to secure private loans needed to access this career in the first place,” Black said.

The association stressed that solutions are attainable, with pay increases and other market-based solutions having already been undertaken, however the RAA stated: “attempts to lower these costs and facilitate airline support for pilot training have been met with political resistance and cynical, false accusations of circumventing safety.”

Black continued: “Enough is enough. To resolve the pilot shortage, we must embrace safety-centred solutions that reduce the high barriers of entry to the pilot career, provide for more structured and qualitative training and lower the cost of training for aspiring pilots.”

“We applaud our long-time board member Doug Voss and his team at Great Lakes for their years of dedication to small community air service. We will support Great Lakes in any way we can while we continue to work with Washington policymakers to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” Black added.