In March 2022, Doug Parker stepped down from his role as the CEO of American Airlines after nearly nine years at the helm of the Dallas-based carrier. 13 months later, in April 2023, he also left his position as chairman of the board, concluding a career in aviation spanning more than three decades.
However, Parker, who, prior to heading American Airlines also served as the CEO of US Airways (later acquired by American Airlines) and held leadership positions at Northwest Airlines, was not finished with the aviation industry.
In the years since his departure from American, Parker has channeled his energy and passion for aviation into a new venture. Together with his wife Gwen, Parker set up Breaking Down Barriers, a non-profit organization which aims to inspire an interest in aviation careers among young people, particularly those who do not see the industry as an option. Many people have toyed with the idea of becoming a pilot but have never given serious thought to making that ambition a reality.
Speaking with AeroTime, Parker explained how the COVID-19 pandemic, which he weathered as CEO of American Airlines, represented a serious upheaval for the airlines’ recruitment pipeline. With many pilots and crew being placed on furlough and the industry facing an uncertain future, many young people turned their backs on aviation as a viable career option. This dried up the talent pool, making the labor shortage much worse when the world finally reopened for travel.
Why is the industry struggling to attract enough pilots?
While demand for aviation professionals has picked up again, costs have not come down, depriving the industry of a large number of valid aspirants, who have given up on the idea of becoming a pilot.
Joining AeroTime’s call with Parker was Rob Polston, CEO of the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, one of the oldest and largest flight training schools in the United States, who explained the dynamics of this market and its access problem.
“Flight instruction in the US was usually through one of the following paths: it was either the military, or a handful of select university programs or going to one of the 2,000 mostly mom-and-pop schools that exist in the US,” he stated.
Flight training alone can cost upwards of $100,000, an amount which can double or even triple if coupled with a specialized college degree, explained Polston. He added that most mom-and-pop flight schools are unable to offer student loans or any other source of funding, meaning that lots of kids struggle to get started. This leads many young people to not even give it a shot, even though becoming a commercial pilot would mean recovering the initial investment many times over time.
The result is that, at a time when airlines are desperate to recruit more pilots, potential recruits are not even showing up.
This is when Breaking Down Barriers comes in.
Parker’s non-profit organization fulfills a double role. First , it raises awareness of the opportunities open to those that chose to pursue an aviation career, and second, and more tangibly, it offers an entry path into the profession to those willing to try it.
Breaking Down Barriers has produced a training program offered to a limited number of hopefuls who otherwise would be crowded out of the pilot training path.
This, of course, requires resources. Much of the initial funding for Breaking Down Barriers came from the Parkers, who put $3 million of their own money to get things started. This was matched by American Airlines, and supplemented by some other private contributions.
What’s more, numerous pilots, instructors, and other aviation professionals have agreed to collaborate in kind, by volunteering some of their time. Some 20 pilots have so far passed through the program, two of whom have already qualified as certified flight instructors and are on their way to rack up the number of hours required to become a commercial pilot.
The non-profit is now taking in around three future pilots per quarter. However, Parker is already thinking about scaling up to be able to train at least 100 pilots at any one time.
However, what makes this program unique is that it does not accept random applications. In a way, doing so would betray the original purpose of the project, which is to incite new vocations among those that might never have thought it possible that they could become a pilot.
In fact, it is Breaking Down Barriers that scouts out potential candidates. The organization conducts presentations at schools, with the aim of opening a window to the world of aviation. Only then are people invited to apply., Both Parker and Polston agree that the pilot formation bottleneck is limiting the capacity of the industry to achieve its full potential.
“Aviation, even if it has its ups and downs, continues to grow at around 4 to 5% a year and it is necessary for infrastructure, for defense, for connecting people, but the problem is that there is not enough people that understand that this industry is available to them,” Polston stated, adding that Spartan College is more or less attempting to solve the same problem as Breaking Down Barriers.
Pilot training and technology
Neither Parker nor Polston appeared concerned about a switch to autonomy in the medium term.
“I think there is always going to be a requirement to have human pilots onboard,” said Parker. “People want to know that if all systems go out, those pilots know how to fly that airplane.”
He went on to note, as well, that pilots should also be able to react and override any malicious system hackings that may occur if flying is left entirely to technology.
There is also the idea that some technologies can help make humans more efficient at what they do. In this regard, Polston pointed out the role of technicians, who could become more productive with the support of ever smarter machines.
“If you can do an eight-hour process in four hours, what most airlines will do is get two planes done instead of one. They will be able to fly more planes and fly more routes, all of which will be good for consumers,” he said, before pointing out that one of the consequences of the pandemic-related furloughs was that airlines dropped many routes in the US, reducing competition and travel choices.
“More flights mean more revenue,” he added. “That’s why the airlines want more planes. And this [the pilot scarcity] is why the industry is not operating at full potential.”
Parker also discussed the current state of the US industry and its future perspectives, noting that, while there is a role for a number of point-to-point niche carriers and that “Southwest Airlines isn’t going anywhere”, the Big Three have become incredibly efficient at being able to fly anyone to pretty much anywhere.
Also, when it comes to product offerings, airlines now offer a more granular multi-tier range of products than a few years ago.
While earlier it was either coach or first class, the large network carriers are now able to offer something to pretty much each preference and price sensitivity, even matching low-cost carriers with their basic fares and offering the chance to pay more for the services that matter the most to each customer.
This may also be one of the drivers of the increasing popularity of premium travel, which is filling both airport lounges and the front of the cabin.
“It is not that there is more disposable income. Demand was always there. It is just there were not that many products to choose from,” Parker said “We are seeing the tiering up of more and more products.”
So, are there still opportunities for further growth in such a mature market? Parker thinks yes. Particularly as a large part of the country already views air travel as a necessity.
“Our business is cyclical, as a function of the growth of the economy, but at growing at a higher rate,” he said “There has been a systemic change in the way people want to spend their money and how important travel is for them.”
