Frax Hire Many More Pilots

The four major fractional aircraft operators hired 482 pilots last year compared with 198 in 2003, bringing the total roster of fractional pilots to 3,649 last year, according to aviation hiring firm AIR in Atlanta. The number of pilots each fractional provider hired last year and initial forecasts for this year (shown in parentheses) were: NetJets, 209 (150); CitationShares, 106 (120 to 130); Flight Options, 56 (75); and Flexjet, 111 (unknown). In 2002, AIR reported 997 pilots hired by major fractionals.