Boeing projects the world’s commercial aviation industry will require at least 2.1m new operational personnel—pilots, technicians and cabin crew—by 2036. As detailed in its 2017 Pilot and Technician Outlook released Tuesday, Boeing estimates the global airline industry by 2036 will need 637,000 new commercial airline pilots, 648,000 new commercial airline maintenance technicians and 839,000 new cabin crew members. To meet this demand, airlines will have to hire approximately 106,200 personnel annually. Overall, Boeing’s total 20-year personnel forecast differs marginally (up 0.7%) from its forecast last year. Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region will require the greatest number of new personnel in all categories (817,000 total, including 308,000 cabin crew; 256,000 technicians; and 253,000 pilots). <br/>
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Airbus A350-900 operators are being instructed to reset the aircraft's electrical power system regularly to avoid spurious effects on the type's avionics. Analysis has determined that the problems can occur after 149h of continuous power-up of the twinjet type. EASA is ordering operators to conduct an on-ground power cycle regularly, resetting the internal timer, to ensure that the system stays within the 149h interval limit. It has drawn up an airworthiness directive in response to in-service incidents involving loss of communication between certain avionics equipment. "Depending on the affected [aircraft] systems or equipment, different consequences have been observed and reported by operators," says EASA. It says the condition could lead to "partial or total loss" of certain systems or avionics functions. <br/>
The US TSA, working with US intelligence experts, built a large personal electronic device (PED) laden with explosives and tested it “on a real airplane, on the ground [and] pressurised,” US Department of Homeland Security secretary John Kelly said last week. “To say the least, it destroyed the airplane,” Kelly said. Kelly described the circumstances behind DHS’ March 21 ban on allowing passengers from 10 Middle Eastern airports to bring large PEDs into the passenger compartments of US-bound aircraft. “People should understand that there are people who work very hard, long and hard, to knock down an airplane in flight,” Kelly said. “Ideally, they’d like to knock down a US airplane in flight on the way to the US." <br/>
China and Russia have pledged to strengthen their cooperation in civil aviation, including in aircraft airworthiness certification. The two sides signed relevant documents following a meeting 21 July, says the Civil Aviation Administration of China. These include increasing the number of routes and frequencies between the two countries. They also had an in-depth discussion on certification issues involving Russia's aviation products in China. No further details were disclosed. The CAAC adds that passenger traffic between the two countries climbed 15% in 2016 to 1.9m and that China remains the largest tourist group into Russia for 4 consecutive years. This summer, 26 operators will have 326 passenger and cargo services between 21 Chinese cities and 13 Russian cities, an increase of 40 services from a year ago. <br/>