New Zealand’s Aviation Industry Blames Student Loan Restrictions for Looming Pilot Shortage
I have words to say! 🤨
Funding for student pilots is an issue that really grinds our gears. Especially as we are focused on those remarkably talented and community minded young people who don’t come from wealthy families. They have the same dreams as the wealthy few, but have very little chance of reaching them. Doomed because of their families’ financial situation.
This Government, like those that have gone before, are quite happy (they prefer the word ‘comfortable’) that poorer members of our society are being locked out of well paying jobs, simply because they are not able to access funding they require to train.
It may come as a shock to some that intelligence and talent are not associated with wealth. The intellectual capacity of our brains is developed in utero. Sure, access to funds can allow the individual to express that innate ability more freely, but time and time again, we see that incredibly motivated, talented and good people are being consciously held back by the governing body of our country.
It was particularly galling to read that Katrina Sutich, a tertiary and evidence policy group manager for the Ministry of Education, was quite happy to go on record to say that the Government expects family to help cough up for the students education. This comment smacks of an ideology at government level to allow a societal economic class system to develop further in New Zealand.
When the less wealthy are excluded from well paying jobs using the mechanism of very limited student funding, the financial balance of a healthy community is pushed out in favour of giving large incomes to those who are already wealthy.
Or, the alternative is that we have a Government that doesn’t believe we have poverty and a working poor class of families who can’t afford to pay for food AND rent, let alone help their children into tertiary education.
When John trained to be a pilot, New Zealand society was more egalitarian, no class system existed. There were no student loans either, but everyone was in the same boat. Not any more.
Other high paying careers, such as Doctors, have fully funded student loans - if you can handle the course content admirably, you can train, regardless of your background. So what is it about a career as a pilot that the Government would rather only have wealthy people employed in?
Sutich goes on to say the government is already spending $4 billion on tertiary education. Yup, sounds a lot. But how much are they actually spending on tertiary pilot education? How much more would that bill increase by if they made pilot training fully funded? Would it really make an impact on that $4 billion?
She also says that we are in a time of fiscal restraint. With the grim unemployment figures, cost of living and housing crises, we get that, but at least throw the aviation industry a bone and give a date as to when this issue will be addressed?
John was so impassioned by this article that he connected with Simon Wallace to talk further about it. They also discussed the 71/29% divide between those qualified pilots who leave the industry, not having found a job (71%) and those that do secure work (29%). Turns out New Zealand is an outlier in this regard with laws written in 1966 saying that pilots can’t work in the airlines until they have at least 500 hours flight time. Can you imagine a Doctor not being able to practice until they had 500 hours of hands on patient care after they had qualified?
Overseas, if you are qualified and demonstrate your competence during airline interviews and exams, you can get hired straight after qualifying as a commercial pilot. In other words, pilots are employed on merit, not on hours in a log book. As it ought to be. Afterall, airline flight decks are multi crew, not single pilot operations - unlike doctors.
Unfortunately, the Civil Aviation Act was only overhauled last year (due to become law in April 2025) but this part of the Act wasn’t included in the overhaul, so we have no idea when (or if) this archaic law requirement will go to bring us in line with overseas jurisdictions.
This article was first published in the New Zealand Herald and was written by Varsha Anjili. Here is the link to the original article - https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/travel-news/new-zealands-aviation-industry-blames-student-loan-restrictions-for-looming-pilot-shortage/5GGEQMIQJRD6NC542W2PIOUFVQ/
We thank Simon Wallace for providing his photo.
Simon Wallace, CEO, Aviation Industry Association of New Zealand
The aviation industry is blaming student loan restrictions for New Zealand’s looming pilot shortage, warning that only young Kiwis with financial backing from their families can realistically afford pilot training.
In its findings published last week, the Aviation Industry Association of New Zealand (AIANZ) and the Ringa Hora Services Workforce Development Council revealed that New Zealand needs (on average) 100 more pilots annually.
It warned that the gap between workforce supply and demand will grow by 2-3% each year if no changes are made to New Zealand’s tertiary policies.
Association chief executive Simon Wallace said that the high cost of pilot training is locking students out.
“A major disincentive at the supply end is the cap on student loan borrowing for domestic students that has been set at $35,000 per year since 2013. Back then government agreed to review the cap but this has not occurred,” Wallace said.
“Now, with inflation and the cost of living increases, training costs have increased to as much as $120,000 for a two-year course of study. So students are expected to fund at least an additional $50,000 on top of the $70,000 student loan they are limited to.
How much?!
“The cost is shutting out a lot of young Kiwis aspiring to become pilots. Only those with financial support from families can afford to train.”
Researchers noted other factors contributed to the stress of the situation, such as the impact of the Covid pandemic on the industry.
“Airlines globally lost pilots during Covid-19 and while passenger numbers are back to normal, pilot numbers are not, and shortages are expected to continue. The shortfall of pilots in North America alone is estimated at 17,000 in 2024 and expected to remain significant over the next decade,” Wallace said.
“This international demand could double the rate of our trained pilots leaving the New Zealand workforce to move overseas in the next 10 years. That will drastically accelerate the situation we already face.”
Currently, a newly minted CPL usually needs to leave NZ to find their first flying role.
Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer David Morgan said the airline has put measures in place to protect it from future problems.
“While Air New Zealand does not currently face a pilot shortage, we know it’s important to prepare for future demands. As such we are actively investing in training programmes to ensure there is a steady pipeline of qualified pilots and engineers. The Mangōpare Air New Zealand Pilot Cadetship is a crucial initiative to support this effort,” Morgan said.
Morgan added that the airline was pleased with the help it received.
“We are very grateful for the support from government and industry partners in this future planning. Their continued collaboration is essential to ensure that pilot and engineer shortages do not adversely impact the aviation sector in New Zealand in the future,” he said.
According to AIANZ’s research, Air NZ’s pilot cadet programme would contribute to the solution but ultimately wouldn’t be enough. It also suggested changes to immigration policies enabling international students with a commercial pilot’s licence to stay in the country for a period and work as flight instructors.
“This approach could increase supply relatively quickly to reduce the acute shortfall at flight schools. The recently announced Air New Zealand cadet scheme may contribute to reducing the pilot shortage, but won’t solve the problem long-term,” Wallace said.
Katrina Sutich, a tertiary and evidence policy group manager for the Ministry of Education, said the Government expects study costs to be shared between learners, their families, and the Government.
Which funding shortfall lemon is for the student, family or government?
“The student support system, which includes the student loan and student allowances schemes, is complemented by tuition subsidies, fee subsidies, and fee regulation. This helps to manage the cost of study for learners. In total, the Government spends just over $4 billion a year on funding tertiary education,” Sutich said.
“We continue to work with the sector [including in relation to this report] to look at innovative solutions in a fiscally constrained environment and support positive workforce outcomes for this key industry.
“The Government would need to balance any increase in expenditure alongside its fiscal priorities for tertiary education and across all portfolios.”
The association urged the Government to take action, stressing that workforce shortages in the aviation industry would have a rippling effect on others.
“The industry is critical to the economy, connecting us to global markets and providing vital services across search and rescue, agriculture and primary industries, forestry, tourism, energy, security and biosecurity,” Wallace said.
“We need government to step up and take this seriously.”
Government. Get a move on!
