Microsoft Flight Simulator Might Answer the ‘Pilot Crisis’

I must admit that I am really looking forward to the release of the next Microsoft Flight Simulator. It has, after all, been a fair while now since the last game was released and if the screenshots and trailers are anything to go by, this new one is going to, at least look, pretty amazing.

In a report via PCGamesN, however, it seems that the team behind the game is getting a lot of interest from aircraft manufacturers. Not necessarily for the reasons you might think though.

They are instead, hoping that this game release will encourage a whole new generation of pilots to make up for an industry-wide shortfall.

Microsoft Flight Simulator To Fix Pilot Crisis?

So, what are they hoping this game will achieve? Well, it seems that the commercial air industry has a pretty major problem. Namely, that there is currently a huge shortfall in pilots.

With roughly around 100,000 required, manufacturers are hoping that the game will provide a level of accuracy that will not only encourage people to be pilots, but also to provide an experience that will effectively be on par with real-world instrument training.

Why Is There a Problem?

Becoming a commercial pilot isn’t easy. It certainly isn’t cheap either. Most estimates suggest that it costs around $140,000 to train a pilot and (for better or worse depending on how you look at it) you only get 2 cracks at your final test. If you fail the second one, you’re ruled out for life! This isn’t, of course, to be confused with a private pilot’s license (PPL) which is (relatively speaking) simpler and more easily achievable for around $10,000-$20,000.

So, will Microsoft Flight Simulator help encourage and create more pilots? Who knows. Personally, I prefer just seeing how bad I can make things and seeing if I can fix them. You know, stuff like getting a 747 out of a stall.

Either way, however, while I don’t see myself flying one in 10 years time, rest assured I’ll be buying this when it releases next year!

What do you think? Are you looking forward to Microsoft Flight Simulator? Would you like to be a real-world pilot? – Let us know in the comments!