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'A good time to be in the industry'

BY SCOTT FITZGERALD, THE SOUTHERN

Sunday, November 4, 2007 11:19 PM CST

CARBONDALE - Robert Lustman graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Flight Management School in 1989.

He's piloted aircraft for American Airlines and taught at his alma mater, where he received a boost in pay this year for his services.

But now, the Saluki aviator is on the move, having recently accepted an offer to pilot aircraft for Continental Airlines, which has expanded its international flights.

"It's a good time to be in the industry," Lustman said, echoing what industry analysts are saying, with proof in the numbers.

According to Aviation Information Resources Inc., more than 1,360 pilots received jobs within the airline industry in September, making it the largest hiring month since 9/11. Approximately 12,000 new airline pilot jobs were forecast for the year by AIR Inc., the largest hiring year since 2001.

"It's a boom time. The industry has recovered from 9/11," said David NewMyer, department chair of SIUC's Aviation Management and Flight.

At an aviation career fair held last month in the SIUC Student Center, 38 companies participated and 25 of those companies were looking for pilots, NewMyer said.

"They (airlines) are literally hiring people right out of school," NewMyer said.

And that includes the smaller regional carriers such as Mesaba Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines, which attended the career fair here, he said.

One of the downfalls of the opportunities in the industry is that flight instructors like Lustman are returning to piloting full time.

"We're battling the airlines for pilots to teach our students here. We're trying to keep our instructors here," NewMyer said.

Another competitor for pilots also looms on the market. That's the military, which is offering incentives for men and women to stay in the Air Force, for example.

"The military has downsized and with the second Gulf War dragging on, they (military) are losing many pilots to the airlines industry," NewMyer said.

SIUC has 200 flight students and it's competitive to get into the Aviation Flight Management program. There are 65 seats available this fall with about 180 qualified admissions trying to get one of those seats, NewMyer said.

scott.fitzgerald@thesouthern.com / 351-5076