Flygere sjekkes ut på ballonger - Phoenix - Curt Lewis

 

Phoenix hot air balloon company looking to hire laid off pilots

A company in Phoenix is training laid-off pilots to fly hot air balloons.

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - Some laid-off pilots may be trading in their wings for hot air balloons as one industry recovers from a grounded 2020.

"It's going to take them years to catch up," said Rainbow Ryders Hot Air Balloon Ride Company President and CEO Scott Appelman. He said hot air balloons are lifting off. "Our numbers are up 30% compared to last year."

The ballooning of business requires more employees, preferably laid-off pilots who can be quickly trained. "Having laid off pilots who lost their jobs is great cause having existing aviators, they understand the rules and regs that apply above the ground," said Appelman. Just last year, the pandemic robbed thousands of airline workers of their jobs.

Appelman said he's already heard from some of them. "We put this information out 36 hours ago, and I already got a dozen applications from around the country and around the world, and several of those are from laid-off airline workers," said Appelman.

But he said you don't need cockpit experience to fly a hot air balloon. "25% of our company has started off as crew chiefs," said Appelman.

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