Pilot shortage: 600,000 new pilots needed over the next 20 years - are pilotless planes the answer?

The world's aviation industry will need to train and deploy more than 600,000 new pilots over the next 20 years. But, then again, the industry might be operating fleets of commercial jets flown by remote control.

Those are the seemingly contradictory outlooks described in separate reports by aerospace giant Boeing and Swiss banking powerhouse UBS.

Boeing's report says global expansion and increased demand for air travel will require 637,000 new pilots over the next 20 years, with 40 per cent of those needed in the Asia-Pacific region and 18 per cent needed in North America.

A Boeing representative said the aviation company is not predicting a pilot shortage, but airlines and other aviation groups have said it will be difficult to train and hire all the pilots, crew members and technicians required to meet future demands.

"New market opportunities are creating an increased demand for qualified, skilled and experienced pilots," the Boeing report said.

But that many pilots may not be needed after all, according to a report by UBS aviation analysts, who predict that remote-control planes could be carrying cargo and passengers by 2025 and could save the industry up to $US35 billion ($A44 billion) a year.

"In the not-too-distant future, we would expect to see a situation where flights are pilotless or the number of pilots shrinks to one, with a remote pilot based on the ground and highly secure ground-to-air communications," the UBS study said.

Boeing has studied the possibility of developing pilotless planes, but the aviation company said in a statement "there are many steps to be taken before Boeing can fly an autonomous plane."