Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Thursday, February 6, 2014
(EVANSVILLE) - Airlines across the country are struggling to find to enough pilots to fly their planes.
Pilots who began their careers in the 80's are starting to retire and airlines say there's not enough people to replace them.
Smaller airports, such as Evansville Regional Airport, are being affected because pilots who typically fly regional carriers are being moved to the legacy carriers.
If you fly, you won't notice a change immediately, but with a shortage of pilots, it will start to affect flight schedules.
Dianna Page, with Evansville Regional Airport, says they feel the crunch during winter weather like this.
"Our flight operations do go on as normal. We see a little more impact during the weather systems. However, right now, we're not experiencing any flight cancellations due to the lack of available pilot," Page says.
Page also says the shortage of pilots could be due to new regulations set last year for training.
Pilots use to be required to have a minimum of 250 training hours. That has now jumped to 1,500.
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