Sask. seeing shortage of qualified pilot applicants for air ambulance services

Air ambulance services in the province say they are feeling the impact of a shortage of qualified pilots due to a number of reasons.

Saskatchewan Air Ambulance (SAA) told CTV News, like the rest of the aviation industry, its facing challenges in attracting skilled pilots.

“This has resulted in posting pilot job ads more frequently and for longer periods of time, as well as turnover, which has required additional onboarding training,” the province said.

It adds that part-time pilots are being used to cover shifts as required, but hasn’t stopped SAA being able to maintain 24/7 service.

“There is a lot of competition for pilot talent right now across Canada and we need to attract pilots to our organization,” said Dan Knisley, acting director of SAA.

The province has four aircrafts based in Saskatoon and staffs around 20 pilots, to keep in line with federal regulations for flight duty. Two of the airplanes are operational and ready to fly at all times, SAA said. The other two are on standby or in maintenance, the organization said.

“It’s much like the trucking industry where we can only fly so many hours in a day and have to have mandated rest,” Knisley told CTV News.

STARS, which provides air ambulance services across the prairies, says it’s also felt the impact of the shortage of qualified pilots. One of the reasons includes pilots not renewing their medical requirements, leading to fewer qualified applicants.

Pilots who are able to fly in a two-crew environment and in instrument conditions are just some of the skills needed for the job.

“Being a 24/7 operation we fly with night vision goggles so if you have that type of background it can definitely be a desired skill set to come work at STARS,” said STARS director of flight operations Jason Arthur.

Arthur says Saskatoon and Regina bases are fully staffed and the organization has a pool of pilots meant for back up.

“If a pilot is off on vacation or calls in sick, we have the depth of pilots to cover that shortage,” Arthur said.

While the situation isn’t critical at this point in time, it could impact people down the line if there aren’t enough pilots.

“What will happen is those patients will not have the quickest mode of transport to critical care that they need,” said president and CEO of the Helicopter Association of Canada, Trevor Mitchell.

Mitchell says in order to draw more people to the industry, it needs to leverage provincial and federal governments to make funding available for training opportunities.