Short on pilots

Southeast Missouri has been without a commuter airline for five months. Big Sky Airlines, the successor chosen when the Federal Aviation Administration shut down struggling RegionsAir, has delayed beginning service at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, citing a shortage of qualified pilots.

The pilot shortage is worldwide. The high demand for pilots is a result in part to rapid air traffic growth in the Mideast, India and China. In the U.S., carriers need more pilots as they continue to bounce back from the devastation of 9-11.

At the same time, the supply of pilots in the U.S. has decreased because of the number involved in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military customarily feeds pilots into commercial aviation when they are discharged, but that isn't happening at the usual rate.

RegionsAir, which suspended operations in March after the FAA questioned its pilots' training, has not returned to operating any of its routes. The company's Web site invites pilots to submit resumes in anticipation of that event.

The shortage of pilots has raised concerns about safety. One is that small airlines will only be able to attract pilots right out of flight school and that these pilots necessarily will lack some knowledge that can only be acquired through experience.

Congress is looking at the situation. One solution that has been suggested for replenishing the supply of pilots is to extend the mandatory retirement age -- currently 60 -- to 65. Commercial pilots in Europe fly until age 65. The FAA and the Airline Pilots Association have voiced opposition to increasing the retirement age, citing a lack of supporting information about over-60 pilots' abilities.

Big Sky president Fred Deleeuw says October is the earliest flights could begin between Cape Girardeau and Cincinnati. He has set the same goal for beginning service at the airport in Jackson, Tenn., where Big Sky also took over for RegionsAir.

The longer Southeast Missouri does without a commuter airline, airport manager Bruce Loy has said, the harder it will be to get travelers back onboard once Big Sky does start flying.