It's not rare for Parkvale Bank to advertise openings for "floating bank tellers" to handle a variety of customer-service duties.
But finding an employee whose job is to go up, up and away — in a heavily forested region notable for its lack of balloonists?
That job search is up in the air.
"You just don't open up the Yellow Pages and look for a balloon pilot," said William Fritz, senior assistant vice president for the Monroeville-based bank.
In recent weeks, Fritz has resorted to the classified sections of area newspapers in attempts to unearth candidates for hot-air balloon pilot. The bank has had the position for nearly 30 years for marketing and public relations in Allegheny, Westmoreland and Washington counties, often offering rides at events and fundraisers.
Fritz estimates — and balloon enthusiasts confirm — there might be as few as five or six commercially licensed and qualified pilots in Western Pennsylvania among about 4,000 nationwide. Generous projections might put the local roster of pilots as high as a dozen.
"Whoever was left in the inventory, I've used up," Fritz said.
Parkvale has had five pilots over the years, including one from the South Hills who was experienced in flying over the vast open terrain of Serengeti National Park in Africa. Another, John Addison, was the founder and chief pilot of a Bovard balloon-ride business, Ragge & Willow, until his death in 2007.
The most recent hire, from Washington County, died this year.
Fritz has fielded about a half-dozen calls from pilots as far away as New Mexico, Texas and Missouri, but he said the typical flight season of three months here isn't convenient or cost-effective for an out-of-stater to pick up stake and move to the Keystone State.
Parkvale provides the balloon and necessary insurance for passengers, but the new pilot would be on the hook for securing and insuring a chase crew.
"They might be well-qualified, but I'm not sure that the money and expense would be conducive for them to move here," Fritz said.
Federal Aviation Administration guidelines require balloon pilots to have a license and a balloon rating that is earned after 10 hours of flight training.
The industry is more prominent in the southwestern United States.
David Robinson, a member of the John Wise Balloon Society of Central Pennsylvania, estimates the number of commercial pilots in Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey at 50 to 60.
Western Pennsylvania, with its more rolling hills and farm fields, produces fewer pilots, said Bill Hughes, a New York resident and spokesman for the northeast region of the Iowa-based Balloon Federation of America.
He recalled his challenges when he took up a balloon around Punxsutawney.
"It's not the greatest flying area in the world," Hughes said of Western Pennsylvania. "There are a lot of trees, which makes it difficult to find a landing place."
Robinson, a York County balloon-ride operator who works as a sales representative for Hershey Foods, said it's an expensive hobby for which insurance has doubled since 9/11.
While the economic downtown hasn't cooled interest in rides this year, inclement weather this summer has driven down the average number of rides he gives weekly from nine to two or three.
Still, demand was so high at the annual York County Balloon Festival during Father's Day weekend that ride operators had to turn away people ready to pay $195 for a bird's-eye view.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Robinson said. "It's that unique gift that you give people that you don't know what to give."
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