Pilots are flocking to NetJets amidst an industry wide pilot shortage, the fractional operator reports. "NetJets Europe employed 341 new pilots last year," says ceo and chairman Mark Booth, "bringing the total to 908 at the end of 2007."

He says NetJets Europe flies to 900 airports which means a pilot can expect to fly to more than 70 airports in 21 countries operating hundreds of unique city pairs every year. Qualified first officers with more than 3,000 hours of flight experience can upgrade to captain in as little as six months, he adds. "Our recruitment drive has extended the company's total workforce to 1,653."

In 2007, NetJets Transportes Aereos employed 144 new aviation professionals, based at the operations centre in Lisbon, in areas such as training, maintenance, dispatch, scheduling and customer service. Another 41 new sales and marketing staff based in London, Munich, Paris and Rotkreuz (Switzerland) also joined the NetJets Europe team along with 25 new cabin crew members.