Airnorth experiencing impact of pilot shortage, schedule impacted as a result

Airnorth stated (15-Jan-2018) it is, like other regional airlines in Australia, experiencing the impact of a pilot shortage that is “preventing us from operating all our scheduled flights”. He added: “The situation is not isolated to Airnorth or Australia, and is part of a global pilot shortage that is affecting the entire aviation industry and its customers”. The carrier said it continues to recruit pilots and currently has 11 positions vacant. The carrier noted the recruitment and training process “takes time”, and the carrier is “spending in excess of half a million dollars on recruitment and training”. In Dec-2017, 87.2% of Airnorth’s flights departed on time (within 15 minutes of schedule). The most recent Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) reports (Sep-2017 to Nov-2017) show a national average of 80.5% on time against Airnorth’s performance in the same period of 82.7%. Similarly, Airnorth has cancelled 1.3% of scheduled flights against a national average of 2.3% in the same period. [more – original PR]