Is the U.S. airline industry facing an impending shortage of qualified pilots? That story has been creating headlines and controversy across the aviation sector this week.

According to Monday's report in the Wall Street Journal, domestic U.S. carriers are facing "what threatens to be their most serious pilot shortage since the 1960s." That shortage is reportedly due to a variety of factors. Starting next summer, the Federal Aviation Administration will require newly-hired airline pilots to have 1,500 hours of flight time, compared with the current requirement of 250 hours.

The FAA would also require those pilots to have additional training and testing customized for the airplanes they will fly.

At the same time, more than half of all U.S. airline pilots are in their 50s, and thousands of those senior airline pilots are quickly approaching the mandatory retirement age of 65. In addition, new regulations for more pilot rest time are also coming online in 2014.

All these changes are adding up to what some are seeing as a major crisis for the airlines. "We are about four years from a solution," industry analyst Kit Darby told the Journal, "but we are only about six months away from a problem."

Indeed, this year's Boeing (BA) Pilot & Technician Outlook report projects a need for about 460,000 new commercial airline pilots worldwide by 2031 -- with demand for 69,000 in North America alone. The report notes the airline pilot shortage is a global phenomenon; as growing demand in emerging markets prompts many airlines to expand their fleets and flight schedules.

Some industry observers believe the issue will, at worst, create some short-term financial problems -- as the airlines adjust to the new rules.

"If it means that they're going to have to bring on more pilots or otherwise change schedules around so that they don't have as many planes up in the air as a result of this, then it is going to affect the bottom line," says Andrew Goetz, professor and faculty member in the University of Denver's Intermodal Transportation Institute and the Urban Studies Program.

Goetz believes the great impact of any pilot shortage will be felt among the nation's regional carriers; airlines like Great Lakes (GLUX), United Express -- which partners with United Airlines (UAL) -- and Delta Airlines' (DAL) Delta Connection service.

"The regional carriers are where the pilots do get their training; that's where they can build up their number of hours," he says. "And so it's likely that the larger carriers are going to be going after the most experienced pilots from the regional carriers quite aggressively. And that's a natural progression that always has happened and it will probably be accelerated now, if there really is this shortage." 

Some industry groups and observers, meanwhile, are wondering if there truly is a pilot shortage.

"This strikes me as a cynical effort on the part of some in the industry to cry wolf and use scare tactics in an intent to influence the (FAA) when they write the final rule on pilot experience to weaken it," CBS News aviation and safety expert Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger said during an interview on Monday. 

Sullenberger became a hero in 2009 after safely landing his crippled US Airways (LCC) jet in the Hudson River. He says experienced pilots in the cockpit can save lives and that the new regulations will "solve problems in the regional airline industry that have been the result of a dozen years of crashes taking needless lives."

At the same time, the Air Line Pilots Association, the world’s largest pilot union, is also expressing doubts about a pilot shortage.

"In fact, many airline pilots have been furloughed and would like to return to flying," said ALPA in a statement issued last month. "In addition, many qualified pilots have chosen to fly for airlines in other parts of the world because of the industry instability here in North America."

The solution, according to ALPA, is for government, labor and the air carriers to work together to create stronger and more globally competitive airlines.

"With consistently profitable and stable airlines, our industry can offer the salary, benefits, and job security that will retain and attract the most qualified pilots, now and in the future."

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