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- Pilots are avoiding captain promotions due to unpredictable schedules, Reuters reported.
- United failed to fill 50%, or 978 captain vacancies in the past year, it reported.
- Captain shortages could cause significant flight disruptions.
Pilots are turning down promotions to become captains and this could end up being a huge headache for airlines that are only just emerging from a COVID-19 pandemic slump.
Despite the lure of a bigger paycheck, multiple United Airlines pilots, analysts, and union officials told Reuters in a report published July 19 that pilots were shunning captaincies due to unpredictable flying schedules.
Phil Anderson, a first officer with United, told the outlet that if he took up the promotion, he "would've ended up divorced and seeing my kids every other weekend."
United failed to fill 978 captain vacancies in the past year or around 50% of all vacancies posted by the airline, Reuters reported, citing data from the United pilot union. In June alone, 96 of the 198 openings for captain positions remained vacant.
Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, confirmed the reporting, saying in the company's earnings call on Thursday: "It's the first time that I've ever known it to happen in the airline industry. It is going to impact capacity in the fourth quarter."
Captains are head pilots who command the plane and are necessary for flights to operate. With fewer captains, airlines could struggle to maintain their flight capacity, leading to potential disruptions in service.
And United Airlines is not alone in facing this problem.
Over 7,000 pilots declined to take up captaincies at American Airlines, Reuters reported citing data from the airline's union. The number of pilots declining promotions had doubled in the past seven years, Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the American Airlines pilot union, told the news outlet.
Airlines in the US are already struggling to have sufficient pilots to fly existing routes, with around 18,000 fewer commercial pilots than the industry needs in 2023, Insider previously reported. Airlines have already ramped up pay and resorted to increasingly hiring from abroad to fill the gap.
Now, the captain shortage adds a new layer to existing issues in the pilot profession.
According to the International Air Transport Association's most recent available data, global plane passenger loads are returning to pre-pandemic levels, with air traffic up 31% in May compared to the same period in the previous year.
United Airlines, American Airlines, and their respective pilot unions did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.