US airlines like Delta and United are so desperate for pilots they are dropping some requirements and considering cutting training hours to get more pilots flying sooner

As the pilot shortage continues to affect the airline industry, carriers are struggling to fulfill their flight schedules, and some are even trying to reduce required training hours to get more pilots in the air.

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci apologized in a video on May 13 for the continued flight delays. Minicucci blamed the pilot shortage, saying they had 63 fewer pilots than they planned for.

The April and May schedules were bid on by our pilots and flight attendants, making it impossible to adjust them to avoid cancellation.

The Seattle-based carrier is one of the airlines struggling to find enough pilots. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines have all cut regional flying due to the shortage.

The pilot shortage for the industry is real, and most airlines are not going to be able to realize their capacity plans because there simply aren't enough pilots.

Changing long-standing requirements to get more pilots flying sooner, like nixing degree requirements, and dropping the mandatory number of flight hours needed to be hired, are some of the changes being considered by carriers because of the lack of pilots.

Delta announced in January that it would no longer require pilots to have a four-year degree, saying there are qualified candidates who have gained more than the equivalent of a college education through years of life and leadership experience.

Republic Airways, which operates on behalf of Delta, American, and United, is trying to reduce its pilot training requirements. In April, the airline asked the FAA for permission to hire pilots out of its training academy when they reach 750 flight hours instead of the 1,500 hours currently required for most pilots.

There are hour exemptions in place for those with two or four-year degrees that reduce the required hours to 1,250 and 1,000 hours.

Major airlines scoop up their pilots as regional airlines are impacted by the shortage. Mesa Airlines CEO Jonathan Ornstein told CNBC it takes 120 days to replace a pilot who gave two weeks notice to work for a bigger airline.

The mandatory pilot retirement age may be raised from 65 to 67 under a proposal by Senator Lindsey Graham. The move would allow pilots to stay with their company for longer.

Henry Harteveldt, travel analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group, told Insider that cutting the number of required flying hours may look like a riskier approach than allowing a healthy pilot to continue flying a few more years.

The FAA needs to sit down with the airline industry to discuss these. We have seen route networks and airline schedules cut due to the lack of pilots, inconveniencing passengers and communities, and contributing to higher airfares.