With inflation paramount in investors' minds at a time of rising wages and oil prices, the line separating winners and losers in the global airline industry this year looks likely to be drawn on how well they manage costs, especially on the labour side. IATA in December flagged higher spending on labour and fuel - which make up about half of airlines' operating expenses - as their members' biggest challenge in 2018, especially after several years of record profits. Labour costs surpassed fuel as global airlines' biggest single expense in 2016, at 22% of costs against just under 21% for fuel. That is expected to jump this year to 30.9% versus 20.5% for fuel. Back in 2013, when oil prices were much higher than now, fuel was 33% of expenses against 18% for labour. <br/>
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Hundreds of thousands of pilots will need to be trained to meet growing demand for air transport around the world by 2036, the UN aviation agency said Tuesday. ICAO secretary general Fang Liu said that the number of commercial flights and passengers are forecast to double in the next 15 years while the number of pilots and other airline workers is falling due to attrition. Liu pointed to "the inevitable demographics of aging populations, lowering birth rates, and other attrition factors" for the work force contraction. In addition, aviation is facing increased competition from other sectors "for up-and-coming talent," she said. The ICAO said at least 620,000 pilots will be needed by 2036 to fly commercial aircraft with 100 or more seats. Eighty per cent of those pilots have yet to be trained, it added. <br/>
The 4 biggest US airlines and their regional partners control about 80% of air travel in the US. But is there room in the skies for new competition? Over the past several years, airline mergers have left about 1,000 routes without service, most of them between smaller US cities, according to an analysis by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Inspector General of the DoT in late January launched an audit to examine the impact of airline consolidation on air service to small and medium cities. "Since 2014, the airline industry has become profitable due to the economic expansion and a jet fuel price collapse in that same year. However, congressional concerns persist regarding the availability of airline service at smaller airports," said Charles A. Ward, assistant IG for Audit Operations and Special Reviews. <br/>
More than 3 years after they awoke to find window-rattling flights rerouted in an airborne highway above their homes, residents of Phoenix's downtown historic districts said they finally felt the FAA was listening. A court victory by Phoenix and neighbourhood groups over the FAA last year has prompted the agency to be more responsive to residents as it continues to beat back noise complaints around the US over the air traffic modernisation plan known as "NextGen." While challenges by residents of Washington's Georgetown neighbourhood and other jurisdictions are still being heard in court, people in other affected areas such as Santa Cruz, California, have not sued the agency because they believe their complaints are being considered. Phoenix residents said they appreciated the FAA's current approach. <br/>
A US trade agency Wednesday said it did not impose hefty duties on sales of Bombardier's new jetliner to American carriers because it found that Boeing lost no sales or revenues when Delta Air Lines ordered the aircraft in 2016 from the Bombardier. The International Trade Commission issued the reasoning 3 weeks after its Jan 26 ruling that discarded a US Commerce Department recommendation to slap a near 300% duty on sales of Bombardier's 110-to-130-seat CSeries jets for 5 years, following a complaint by Boeing. ITC commissioners voted 4-0 that Bombardier's CSeries prices to US carriers did not harm Boeing's smallest plane, the 737 MAX 7, thereby removing a valid reason to impose duties. <br/>
Aviation regulators are investigating a flurry of collisions and close calls between consumer drones and aircraft, encounters they say pose significant risks to the flying public. So far, none of the confirmed collisions has triggered a crash or even led to serious damage. Still, the FAA in a study based on computerised models concluded that drones would cause more damage than birds of similar size because they contain metal parts. Significant damage to windshields, wings and tail surfaces was possible, the study found. The surging number of incidents combined with a regulatory system that makes it difficult to monitor drone flights has alarmed by traditional aviation groups. "The likelihood that a drone will collide with an airline aircraft is increasing,” said a letter to US lawmakers earlier this week from A4A and aviation unions. <br/>
Passenger traffic at Dubai World Central (DWC) rose 6.4% in 2017 to reach 900,000 passengers compared to 850,633 in 2016, driven by an easing of visa regulations to Russian citizens. Dubai Airports said the traffic in 2017 was boosted by an increase in traffic on Eastern European routes, which recorded a spike of 168% to take the passenger numbers to 452,631. Russia was the single largest contributor to traffic from Eastern Europe after the UAE started offering visas on arrival to Russian visitors. Nearly 279,100 Russian passengers used DWC in 2017. Western Europe also recorded a rise in traffic, with passengers from there reaching 94,452 — up nearly 35%. Germany was the largest contributor in the region, supported by the launch of service by Condor connecting DWC. <br/>