OREGON
A8 — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2022
BUSINESS
Alaska Airlines launches academy to address pilot shortage
By JAMIE GOLDBERG
The Oregonian
PORTLAND — Alaska
Airlines is prepared to spend
millions of dollars to help
students attend an Oregon
ﬂ ight school, get their com-
mercial pilot licenses and
then get them ﬂ ying planes
for Horizon Air, its regional
sister carrier.
The Seattle-based air
group is partnering with the
Hillsboro Aero Academy
to launch Ascend Pilot
Academy, which will oﬀ er
training in either Hillsboro
or Redmond. The airline will
oﬀ er low-interest ﬂ ight school
loans, cover the cost of a
commercial pilot license, then
give the new pilots a job upon
completing the program.
It’s the latest attempt
from an airline to shore up
its hiring pipeline as car-
riers across the country try
to navigate serious pilot
shortages that have forced
delays, cancellations and
higher plane ticket prices.
Other airlines, too, have
recently opened their own
ﬂ ight academies to entice
candidates who otherwise
may not have pursued a
career as a pilot.
Mark Graves/The Oregonian, File
Alaska Airlines and its regional sister carrier Horizon Air are launching a ﬂ ight school program with the
aim of addressing the pilot shortage. Applications for spots in the new ﬂ ight academy are now open and
the airlines are hoping the ﬁ rst cohort of prospective pilots will begin training April 1, 2022.
While passenger volume is
only 9% lower than pre-pan-
demic levels, the number of
domestic ﬂ ights is still down
16% compared to before the
pandemic, according to a
report released this month
by Airlines for America, a
trade association that rep-
resents major North Amer-
ican airlines.
Scott Keyes, the Port-
land-based founder of the
travel discount website
Scott’s Cheap Flights, said
airlines have been unable
to keep up with rebounding
travel demand due in large
part to the pilot shortage.
That shortage predated the
pandemic, but airlines made
things worse when they
oﬀ ered pilots early retire-
ment packages early in the
pandemic to cut costs.
One report from con-
sulting ﬁ rm Oliver Wyman
estimates that the U.S. will
be short 12,000 pilots by
the end of 2023.
“When the airlines
reacted to the begin-
ning of the pandemic
by really freezing their
hiring, not continuing
with their ramp-up plans
like they had, it seemed
like a prudent decision,”
Keyes said. “But now with
travel rebounding much
more quickly than anyone
expected, airlines have been
caught pretty ﬂ at-footed.”
To ﬁ ll the gap, major air-
lines are hiring pilots away
from regional carriers. About
80% of pilots hired by major
airlines in 2022 are expected
to come from regional air-
lines, said Carlos Zendejas,
Horizon Air’s vice president
of ﬂ ight operations.
That could squeeze the
regional airlines, Keyes said,
and lead to more cuts in ser-
vice to smaller destinations,
leaving people in places like
Medford and Eugene with
fewer ﬂ ight options.
Zendejas said airlines
will need to hire more
than 10,000 pilots in 2022,
double the number of pilots
who were hired in 2019. He
said Alaska and Horizon
alone anticipate they will
need to hire 2,000 more
pilots by 2025.
Students with little to
no ﬂ ight experience who
enroll in the new Ascend
Pilot Academy will get
access to low-interest loans
to help them pay for the
training program, a $3,500
stipend to cover their ﬂ ight
instructor certiﬁ cation, a
$25,000 stipend to cover
the cost of obtaining a com-
mercial pilot license and a
conditional job oﬀ er from
Horizon Air, contingent on
completing the program.
The total cost of partic-
ipating in the Ascend Pilot
Academy and obtaining a
commercial pilot license
will be between $65,000-
$80,000, Zendejas said.
He said the airlines hope
the stipend and low-in-
terest loans will be enough
to entice prospective stu-
dents who previously
saw a career as a pilot as
cost-prohibitive.
“What we’re seeing at
Horizon is a lot of pilot
attrition, so we’re in the
process of backﬁ lling for
that,” Zendejas said. “We
have some programs in
place, including our Pilot
Development Program,
which is a partnership with
established ﬂ ight schools
and universities, but this
academy program will give
us another source of pilots,
so as we look to the future,
more of our pilots can come
from our pipelines.”
Applications for spots in
the new ﬂ ight academy are
now open and the airlines
are hoping that the ﬁ rst
cohort of prospective pilots
will begin training April 1.
Zendejas said they hope 250
new pilots will go through
the academy each year.
Oregonians see homelessness as top issue facing the state
By ANNA DEL SAVIO
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — When Oregon’s
legislative leaders unveiled a
plan to address homelessness
last month, they stressed that it
is not just a Portland, or even an
“urban,” problem.
“Those who are unhoused
and unsheltered are as diverse as
our community itself,” said Rep.
Jason Kropf, a Democrat whose
Central Oregon district is ﬂ anked
by the Deschutes National Forest
and includes much of Bend.
The regional concern on dis-
play in the capitol last month
reﬂ ected the views of Oregon res-
idents, most of whom — regard-
less of ZIP code — want local
leaders to make responding to
homelessness their No. 1 priority.
More than three quarters of
Multnomah County residents
and other urban Oregonians said
it was very important or urgent
for leaders in their communi-
ties to make doing something
about homelessness their top
priority, a recent survey from
the Oregon Values and Beliefs
Center found.
“Getting the economy back is
an important ﬁ rst step. Getting
people with addictions and mental
health issues treated is the next
step,” one Multnomah County res-
ident stated.
But even in rural and suburban
1.51
areas, at least 60% of residents
surveyed in November identiﬁ ed
homelessness as a topic of high
priority.
Most Oregonians identiﬁ ed
mental illness, substance abuse or
a lack of aﬀ ordable housing as the
top reasons why people become
homeless.
The lawmakers who high-
lighted their $400 million package
to ease homelessness and promote
low-cost housing were careful not
to claim victory.
“I want to make clear these
investments will not solve every
problem overnight,” said Rep.
Julie Fahey, D-Eugene. “But Ore-
gonians have immediate needs
right now.”
More now see homelessness
as an urgent issue
Overall, 70% Oregonians
surveyed in November said it
was very important or urgent
for leaders to make homeless-
ness their top priority. Asked a
similar question in an October
2020 survey by Oregon Values
and Beliefs Center, 50% of res-
idents answered very important
or urgent.
While seven out of 10 Ore-
gonians believed ending home-
lessness should be a top priority
for leaders, only six in 10 agreed
that with the right policies and
resources, homelessness could be
solved in their communities.
Rural Oregonians were
slightly more pessimistic than
urban and suburban residents.
Some respondents favored a
harsher approach, forcing home-
less people oﬀ the streets and
into shelters. Others said that
while a few people may refuse
help, the right policies and
resources could get most people
into homes.
With local and state elections
approaching in May, homeless-
ness is likely to become a key
issue throughout the state. And,
the survey said, those seeking
oﬃ ce are likely to face tough
questions as fewer than 12% of
Oregonians are satisﬁ ed with
the homelessness services where
they live.