I personally believe our DPE shortage is the result of a longer labor cycle still lingering from the COVID lockdown (DPE Supply Chain). Remember, 2/3rds of airliners were mothballed during the COVID shutdown and a record number of senior pilots were offered retirement. This cold stop – combined with an infusion of government money saved the airlines from bankruptcy, but no one was flying. (See Delta video on surviving the lockdown).
After COVID the the world experienced an unprecedented resurgence of travel that has the airlines still scrambling to rebuild their workforce (and despite what the “zero-to-hero academies” tell you it takes many years to make a competent captain). No one had forecast this immediate recovery and the existing demographics already predicted a pilot shortage. The huge demand for new pilots has resulted in lower hiring minimums and huge monetary incentives ($$$). Accelerated pilot training ramped up immediately to create new pilots, but it takes longer to create good DPEs too. The FAA is pretty fussy about DPEs -as they should be. In many cases also, the FAA inspectors supervising the DPE process (and the hiring) also got sucked up into airline positions during the hiring craze.
Why Be a DPE?
There seem to be three reasons most experienced CFIs or professional pilots apply to be DPEs. First is the huge financial incentive. Some DPEs are making more than $600K a year in the current market! The second is the public recognition/status of being the “top dog” on the aviation step ladder- the glory! Unfortunately, neither of these more popular motivations result in a good DPE candidate – you get “mercenaries” instead. Being a DPE is not what most people think either.
While the FAA currently authorizes 935 DPEs to administer tests, 75% of tests are administered by only 350 examiners, with 50% of tests administered by roughly only 200 DPEs. FAA Stats
The third, and probably the most scarce, motivation to apply/work as a DPE would be to continue learning in aviation and to create better pilots. These are people who present FAA Seminars and still teach, though they may already have 10 type ratings (my boss). Good DPEs are patient and empathetic. Though remuneration is obviously necessary, big money should not be the primary motivator to attract the right people. It takes a good dose of emotional intelligence (compassion and empathy) to properly calm applicants and do a good job as an evaluator. These are not your mercenaries. Approaching an evaluation as an “aviation god” terrorizes applicants; bad for testing but great for income (failures are faster).
It is an unfortunate fact that many of the best people never come forward to become DPEs because the structure of this relationship is so one-sided and insecure. People I have asked reply “Do you think I am stupid?” DPEs serve entirely “at the pleasure” of the FAA and can be terminated at any time – immediately and for no cause at all (that actually is the official FAA descriptor: “termination not for cause.”) There is no appeal in these cases: the FAA does not do HR at the level of contractor/designee (you are not an employee). This one-sided relationship is a huge disincentive for many qualified people; you can be suddenly gone tomorrow. The job is not what most people think.
The recent letter from the US Congress to the FAA was a bit humorous, but the facts were a little stunning; 200 of the DPEs conduct 1/2 of all flight tests! US Congress was the group that created the 1500-hour rule in the first place, with no input from the FAA (the “aviation people”). This arbitrary rule created many of the problems the FAA is struggling with now (and Congress is not known to be the most efficient operation either). The good news is that both inspectors who do the supervising and DPEs who do the evaluating are now being cranked out at a better rate (though there is training latency). We’ll see if that keeps up with retirement and addresses the backlog the system is currently experiencing. Fly safely out there (and often)!
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