Fractional pilot hiring down 30 percent

The 843 pilots hired by six major fractional aircraft ownership companies in the first nine months of this year were about 30 percent fewer than the 1,210 frax pilots hired in the same period last year, according to employment tracking firm AIR. Nearly 1,400 frax pilots were hired during all of last year, compared with just 581 in 1999. Atlanta-based AIR tracks the hiring statistics of the following frax operators: Flexjet, CitationShares, Corporate Aircraft Partners, NetJets, Flight Options and Travel Air. AIR also reported eight furloughs, the first time it reported such layoffs in the three years it has been tracking fractional pilot hiring.