AIR TIME—Eddie Chavez, left, takes a flying lesson from flight instructor Brian McBrearty of Camarillo-based Channel Islands Aviation at the Camarillo Airport on Aug. 30. The airline industry will hire an estimated 466,000 pilots over the next 20 years, according to a recent report by Boeing. Many of the jobs will be in the booming Asian markets, the report shows. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers An expected need for new pilots in the near future is good news for people with a fondness for flying, including recent Camarillo High School graduate Sebastian Hansen.

What does Hansen like about flying?

“The whole atmosphere,” Hansen, 18, said. “I’m in this little thing that’s taking me 110 miles an hour through the air and I’m the only one in it. It’s a good thrill.”

Hansen is working toward earning his pilot’s license as a student at Channel Islands Aviation at the Camarillo Airport.

“Every flight I take is one step closer to becoming an airline pilot, which is what I ultimately want to do,” he said.

Fortunately for Hansen, the expected pilot shortage makes his chances of finding a job very good.

According to a recent report released by Boeing, the airline industry is expected to hire more than 466,000 new pilots and nearly 600,000 maintenance personnel in the next 20 years.

The report said many of those pilots would work in the expanding Asian market, where airlines, especially in China, are in need of an estimated 180,600 pilots by 2031.

“The baby boomers that are senior airline captains are coming up on the age of 65, which is the mandatory retirement age,” said Sarah Oberman, the flight school manager for Channel Islands Aviation.

The retirements of senior airline captains will have a domino effect.

“The major airlines (will) immediately start hiring from the regional airlines,” Oberman said. “In turn, those regional airlines are going to hire flight instructors from people like me.”

She said the demand for pilots might not be met quickly enough, creating a need for pilots despite the soft economy.

“(The major airlines) are going to be picking up so many pilots that the regional (airlines) will be sucking away all the flight instructors. In a worst-case scenario, I would be left with no one to train pilots.”

Oberman said the looming pilot shortage is an opportunity for a person interested in aviation to consider becoming a professional pilot.

“There is job growth (and) the potential to have an actual career,” she said.

Hansen said the shortage only solidified his decision to fly.

“Before I even heard about it, I knew I was going to be a pilot.”

A student must earn various licenses and meet certain criteria, both in and out of the plane, before becoming a professional, Oberman said—requirements that can come at great expense of time and money.

“(Each pilot) is going to spend anywhere from $42,000 to $60,000 or more on their licenses before they can get a job,” Oberman said. “It’s similar to going to graduate school because you’re investing in yourself and your future.”

Hansen found a nifty way to help cover some of those costs: He works at Channel Islands Aviation.

“I’m a lineman, the guy running around putting fuel in the planes (and) washing the planes.”

A student at Moorpark College, Hansen said he’s invested his “entire savings” into pilot training.

“It’s what you have to pay, and I’ll get it all back as an airline pilot,” he said. “This is not just a hobby.”

To help cut expenses, more training facilities are using flight simulators to train pilots—often at a fraction of the cost. Channel Islands is one such flight school.

“We recently purchased (a simulator) as a training tool to help the pilot shortage,” Oberman said. She said simulators cost about $100 an hour less than renting an airplane, adding that pilots can log many of their required hours in the simulator.

Despite the fact that the simulator has made earning a pilot’s license less costly, Brian McBrearty, a flight instructor, said learning to fly is for “someone who likes a challenge.”

McBrearty said it takes a combination of skills.

“You have to be able to aviate, navigate and communicate, (and) you have to be able to do it all at the same time,” he said.

Costs and training requirements aside, McBrearty said, now is a good time to begin the process, as there’s a better chance of finding a job in the coming years.

“If they spend the next two or three years getting all the certificates that are required, plus building their time, (they will) be ready to go as soon as the airlines start hiring,” he said.

Hansen agreed.

“The opportunity is out there. You’ve just got to want it.”