Got laid off from my regional airline job in 2020. Along with basically everyone else. Weird time to be a pilot.
What Happened
COVID cratered air travel overnight. 95% drop in passengers at the worst. Airlines burned cash just parking planes. They couldn’t keep paying pilots to do nothing.
Some got furloughed with recall rights. Others got terminated outright. Seniority decided who stayed, which meant junior pilots got crushed.
The Options
Wait it out and hope for recall. Some did, living on savings and unemployment. Airlines did eventually recall most people, but the timeline was brutal – months, sometimes over a year.
Corporate aviation absorbed some pilots. Fractional operators kept hiring when airlines stopped. Pay cut usually, but flying is flying.
Flight instruction work existed but pays terribly. Cargo picked up some people – FedEx and UPS stayed busy while passenger travel died.
What I Learned
Have an emergency fund. Seriously. Pilots think they’re recession-proof until they’re not. Six months of expenses saved would’ve changed everything for some guys I know.
Also, seniority is everything. Being low on the list at a major is worse than being senior at a regional in some scenarios. The hierarchy is brutal.
Now
Pilot shortage is real again. Airlines are hiring aggressively. The guys who stuck it out are in good positions now. But the memory of 2020 lingers – this industry can turn fast.
Have a backup plan. Even if you never use it.
