Russell Childs on small community air service
From CEO Panel Discussion: Session I, Regional Airline Business and Trends, 2022 RAA Leaders Conference · · Regional Airline Association
“We've announced this tremendous wind down to some cities that we've spent tens of millions of dollars investing in — when we have an Essential Air Service grant that is expiring and we're looking at our staffing levels we don't have much of a choice but to respond to the expiring grant, and from that perspective that's very, very difficult on the community.”
On , Russell Childs, Chief Executive Officer, President & Director at SKYWEST INC, spoke about small community air service during CEO Panel Discussion: Session I, Regional Airline Business and Trends, 2022 RAA Leaders Conference on Regional Airline Association.
About Russell Childs
At the 2022 RAA Leaders Conference, Russell Childs, CEO of SkyWest, discussed several challenges facing the regional airline industry. He stated that the primary issue is a shortage of captains, not first officers, and that SkyWest fails hundreds of pilots annually from its training program. Childs argued that the 1,500-hour flight requirement for pilots is misunderstood by lawmakers, as unstructured hours are not equivalent to airline training. He also noted that SkyWest has been forced to wind down service to some communities due to expiring Essential Air Service grants and staffing constraints. Childs said that SkyWest is exploring the formation of a charter business, though it would not lower pilot requirements. He described the financial pressures of rising pay rates and borrowing money to prepare for industry evolution, calling sustainability "a story yet to be written." Childs emphasized that demand for regional flying is high, particularly in small communities, but predicted that without regulatory change, the pilot shortage could last more than ten years, with a return to 2016–2018 staffing levels taking a long time.