Short video (spoken monologue) by Kenny Keller advising that it is a good time to become a helicopter pilot. He argues demand is strong because many Vietnam-era military pilots are retiring, military pilot production has decreased, and civilian helicopter use (news, police, EMS) is growing; he acknowledges training is expensive but frames it as an investment comparable to college.
I want to talk real quick about the need for helicopter pilots. This is something that I thought the general public probably knew or a lot of people that are interested in helicopter training would already know this. But the word really hasn't seemed to have gotten out there because I answer this question a lot. People say, well, are there many jobs out there for helicopter pilots? And the answer is absolutely. If you are looking at doing helicopter flying as a career, it's a good time to be a helicopter pilot. And the reason I know this is when I started in 97, the guy then said, hey, over the next 10 to 15 years, you're going to see the Vietnam era guys retiring. And the military trained a ton of pilots for Vietnam. And the military has downsized ever since. They've never put out that large of number of pilots. And as helicopters gain more popularity and they're being used more around the world every day, somebody adds a helicopter that maybe a news station or a police department or a new EMS ship. Helicopters are being added all the time. And I've seen this, I was told that in the beginning and I've watched it happen over the last 15 years. The jobs opening up, the pay getting a little better, the opportunities are definitely there. And the Vietnam guys are retiring. And as that continues to happen, more and more jobs open up. We know the civilian world, it's very expensive to get through the training. So a lot of guys would like to do it, but because of the cost, they don't do it. So if you want to be a helicopter pilot, yes, it's a lot of money, but it's no different than going to college. It's like investing in your future. So if you've been on the fence and you kind of think, you know, you dream about it and you want to do it, but you're not sure and it's a lot of money. Go for your dreams. Absolutely. There is. The future is very bright for helicopter pilots. And that exact is exactly the reason.
