International labor migration of Russian pilots

Abstract

The paper examines the factors of decision-making about working abroad by Russian pilots, revealing the reasons for the existing deficit of highly qualified personnel in the aviation industry. With a shortage of qualified flight personnel, the departure of pilots abroad complicates the development of air travel in Russia. Based on the systematization of empirical research, the authors determine the general and specific factors of labor migration of pilots and answer the question: “Why Russian pilots leave to work abroad?”. The empirical basis of the study was the questionnaire survey of pilots of 31 Russian airlines conducted in 2018, and in-depth interviews with the crew members of airlines. The paper identifies the main problems of the air transport complex in Russia that result in a shortage of pilots. Using the discrete choice model, the authors estimated the likelihood of pilots making a decision on working abroad and determined the determinants of such a decision: wage and social programs, age, marital status, pilot qualifications, awareness of working conditions abroad and flight geography of the company from the home airport, costs of relocation. The test results showed that pilots aged 32–37 years are most prone to labor migration in the status of aircraft captain, which demonstrates the urgency of retaining and attracting qualified personnel to Russian airlines. The paper investigates industry, which is rare for domestic research, as researchers faced restrictions on access to open sources of microdata. Based on unique data, the authors analyze for the first time the issue of labor migration in Russian companies. Conclusions of the article are of practical importance not only for HR airlines, but also for the state policy of regional air traffic development.