E343 - When Will Pilot Hiring Boom Again? Industry Trends & Airline Strategy

Pilot to Pilot

Justin Siems

Leisure, Hobbies, Business, Aviation, Careers

4.9 • 938 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this state-of-the-industry episode, host Justin Seals sits down with Dr. Jim Higgins, Professor of Aviation at the University of North Dakota, to break down what's really happening in aviation right now.

They cover:

Why hiring has slowed and what it means for aspiring pilots
Boeing's production increase from 38 to 42 jets—and why that signals major changes ahead
Spirit Airlines' double bankruptcy and what it reveals about low-cost carrier economics
The government shutdown's impact on air traffic control and safety
Privatization of ATC: Is it the answer?
The $725 billion backlog of aircraft orders
What pilot contract negotiations will look like when money's already good

Whether you're considering a pilot career, navigating the current market, or just curious about where the industry is headed, this conversation cuts through the hype to give you the real picture.

Key Topics: pilot hiring, Boeing, Spirit Airlines, government shutdown, ATC staffing, airline economics, contract negotiations

Transcript

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0:00.0	Episode 3.43 of the Pilot the Pilot Podcast takes off now.
0:09.6	The Pilot to Pilot Podcast is brought to you by Ground School from the Finer Points,
0:13.6	the indispensable training app for new and experienced pilots. Visit learn the finerpoints.com
0:19.0	backslash Justin to save 10% off your first year. All pilots need the big weather picture, and I use SiriusXM aviation to check the fronts, airmets, segments, turbulence, pyreps, and more, while I'm pre-flighting and en route, all to give my passengers and me the most comfortable flight possible. And now with the latest offer from Sirius XM, there's
0:37.7	never been a better time to upgrade your next flight with the Garmin GDL 52 portable receiver
0:42.9	to bring Series XM and ADSB weather plus traffic into your cockpit. Fly with Garmin avionics, then
0:49.5	grab your mobile device and make the Garmin pilot app your cockpit companion. Get advanced functions you'll use before, during, and after every flight, including updating
0:58.9	your aircraft's databases and logging engine data, plan, file, fly, log with Garmin Pilot.
1:06.9	Jim Higgins, professor of aviation at the University of North Dakota.
1:10.8	Aviation, what is going on and welcome back to the pilot to pilot podcast.
1:14.4	My name is Justin Seams and I am your host.
1:17.2	Today's episode is with Dr. Jim Higgins and yes, as you would recall, that means it is a state of the industry episode.
1:23.8	I apologize for not having these out sooner.
1:25.9	Schedules can be hard to mix up.
1:28.6	And life's crazy.
1:29.8	You know, life never stops being crazy.
1:32.0	But we are also, as pilot the pilot, working on something pretty cool and pretty big.
1:37.2	I highly recommend you either follow us on Instagram, go to our website, sign up to stay up to date with news that are coming out.
1:43.4	Because hopefully this time next month will be dropping it.
1:45.5	It's going to be pretty cool and I think you guys are all going to like it. But today is the state of the industry. We talk anything and everything state of the industry. We talk Boeing. We talk airlines. We talk hiring. We talk everything you want to know. So go ahead and listen to this. Share it with your friends. share it with your dad, your mom, who knows, maybe they want to be a pilot as well.
2:01.3	But Aviation, I hope you enjoy today's episode.
2:03.5	And without any further ado here's dr jim higgins
	...

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