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Boeing forecasts huge need for pilots over next 2 decades


Boeing on Tuesday forecast worldwide demand over the next two decades for 533,000 new commercial pilots and 584,000 maintenance technicians. The projection fuels the debate on whether a pilot shortage is looming.

Boeing released a projection Tuesday showing an ever-growing need for more pilots and aircraft-maintenance technicians worldwide as the aviation industry booms across the globe.

The Boeing forecast pegs worldwide demand over the next two decades at more than half a million new commercial pilots and nearly 600,000 maintenance technicians.

Sherry Carbary, Boeing vice president of flight services, said the supply in the U.S. is currently "keeping up with demand" but that "there could be an issue in some of these developing countries if we don't come together and deal with it."

Though Carbary seemed to minimize the risk of a serious pilot shortage ahead, some in the industry fear one developing in high-growth markets overseas and even in the United States.

In May, new low-cost carriers in Japan attributed a series of flight cancellations to a pilot shortage.