Date
2-2017
Department
Graduate School of Business
Degree
Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
Chair
Edward M Moore
Keywords
Focus Groups, Grounded Theory, Organizational Attraction, Pilot Recruitment, Pilot Shortage
Disciplines
Business | Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Business Analytics | Human Resources Management
Recommended Citation
Reitz, Andrew, "An Exploration of the Organizational Attributes that Attract High Quality Pilots to Regional Airlines" (2017). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 1643.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/1643
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify which organizational attributes affected the decision to apply to or accept an employment offer as a pilot for a regional airline. The regional airlines in the United States faced a significant shortage of qualified pilot applicants. The shortage was expected to worsen over the next decade. It came from an increase in mandatory retirements, major airline growth and hiring, an increase in pilots leaving the profession coupled with a reduction in the number of candidates beginning flight training. Those regional carriers that could meet the most needs and desires of applicants would be able to fill their cockpits, while those that ignored these needs would continue to cancel flights as a result of crew shortages. Completing these flights would provide the successful airlines with a significant competitive advantage. The study was qualitative in nature, utilizing focus groups consisting of aviation management or flight students at four universities. By identifying the variables that attracted applicants, an airline could more clearly understand how to attract pilots. This would allow a company to focus its finite resources on a particular area, attracting enough high-quality pilots to properly staff the airline.
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Business Analytics Commons, Human Resources Management Commons
