Business View Magazine - Dec 2023

doesn’t see the pilot shortage ending any time soon. TOP-TIER FACILITIES The Waterloo Regional Airport, as Kaspari points out, is a state-of-the-art facility. Everything looks very good indeed for this top-notch regional facility. “We take a great deal of pride in maintaining our City facilities,” says Kaspari, “whether it’s the airport passenger terminal on the airport grounds, the general aviation passenger terminal or other facilities: Waterloo City Hall, public works, the library, the Waterloo Convention Center or the Waterloo Center for the Arts. We’ve got a number of highly dedicated department heads that maintain their City facilities in very good shape.” He describes the Waterloo Convention Center as a very beautiful place, and he states further that. Waterloo residents can take a great deal of civic pride in these facilities owned by the city. Hart shared that assessment. The Mayor also cited Kaspari returned to the topic of the nationwide pilot shortage. The pandemic played a big part in that. What can be done to address this crisis of numbers? “This is my honest opinion,” says Kaspari. “It starts in Washington with good policy. If you’re prior military, they’re probably going to waive a number of hours, but you need 1,500 hours today as an airport transport pilot or ATP to jump into an air carrier cockpit. When the pandemic did occur, my understanding is that, as regards to the folks in Washington with the funding assistance to the major air carriers, there was a significant retirement of both pilots and the crews, of course, and then also flight attendants and mechanics. Industry- wide, there was a significant shortage. They’re filling the vacancies now with the regional airlines and leaving communities not as well staffed with regard to the pilot ranks as regional airlines would like to have, because I’m sure they would like to as we continue to get a little bit further away from the pandemic.” Still, he adds, headway is being made, though he 394 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 12