Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of commercial airline pilots the UK will need to train each year to provide the workforce required (a) at current levels and (b) to meet anticipated levels of future demand.

As the UK aviation sector operates predominantly in the private sector, it is for individual airlines to recruit and train pilots to meet today’s demand and the demand of the future. I therefore welcome the funded pilot training programmes that British Airways, TUI and Jet2.com have introduced, that will ensure a sustainable pipeline of future pilots.