. >> reporter: 23-year-old amanda larson is sitting in the proverbial catbird's seat, which happens to be in a cockpit. she's been flying for more than four years and is currently being recruited by three regional airlines. >> i know it's competitive, that theyeed to off the best in order to get the pilots because we'll just go somewhere else with a little better pay and flying the same thing. >> reporter: amanda's in demand because of a looming pilot shortageartially because so many will soon hit the mandatory retirement age of 6rlwhile their es continue adding flights, so airlines around the world will need an estimated 637,000 new pilots over the next 20 years. >> the demand for pilots is not only a problem in the u.s., it is worldwide, and it's easy to see why. the number of people around the world who are flying commercially has soared to more than 3 billion annually, so universities that train pilots increasingly find themselves educating students from over seas. most notably, china. >> the major airlines will contract with companies like ourselves, send their cadets to the unite

this is music to the ears of people like 23-year-old amanda larson amanda graduated from a flight trainingchool here in the phoenix area and guess what. she's being actively recruited by three regional airlines and like all of her classmates who have recently graduated, she is being wooed with potential bonuses for signing other recruitment offers for her, this is the chance to pick the best deal possible. >> they know it's competitive, that they need to offer the best in order to get the pilots because we'll just go somewhere else with a little bit better pay and fly in the same thing. >> so what does this mean for the airlines as you take a look at the airline index. yes, labor costs are going to rise over time for the most part your major airlines in the united states internationally have factored this in. but we've already seen emirates cut back certain flights to certain destinations and some of the regional airlines have suspended or curbed their flights because they simply cannot hire enough pilots quick enough this is going to be a challenge for the industry certainly over the next

. >> we talked with one pilot being recruited by the regional airlines 23-year-old amanda larson. three different airlines that are talking with her. by the way, guys, these pilots generally speaking are looking at potential signing bonuses of between $5,000 and $20,000, depending on the carrier don't look now, but the chinese airlines are also aggressively recruiting new pilots. >> one of the guys you interviewed mentioned how it used to be in the old days when there was an abundance of pilots they used to charge them for their training it was expensive to become a pilot -- >> pilot training school and increasingly you are seeing those regional airlines saying how do we off offset the loans that you have taken out to become a pilot >> got it. thanks phil. >> i feel they should get more after some of the pilot hero stories that we get. like tammie jo schults and sully sullenberger. >> if you want more pilots, pay them more. >> money will attract them. >> yep >>> when we come back -- [ no audio ] (baby crying) ♪ ♪ don't juggle your home life and work life without it. ♪ ♪ and don't

worldwide who have taken a commercial airplane flight as a result, it's not hard to find people like amanda larsonhe's in demand. she's being recruited by three different regional airlines. she's not alone. we hear this from a number of pilots they're being offered hefty signing bonuses. other perks in order to fill the need for pilots especially at the regional level >> a lot of regional airlines right now offer incentives like bonuses and things like that luckily because of my military background, i didn't have a lot of flight debt for that reason i chose one that had a better base preference than a bonus program >> they know it's competitive that they need to offer the best in order to get the pilots because we'll go somewhere else with a little bit better pay >> it's really money talks right now all the airlines are fighting for standard entry level pay is that big competition that's happening then on top of entry level pay, bonus pay for simply signing on. >> all right so you might be saying, wait a second what's going on with the pilots currently up there flying these airliners? the mandator