Airbus named its second new sales chief in less than a year Thursday after CCO Eric Schulz abruptly resigned 9 months after being poached from Rolls-Royce to lead the battle for jet sales against Boeing. The planemaker said Christian Scherer, head of ATR and an Airbus veteran who had been beaten to the job by Schulz in November last year, would take over the position immediately. The surprise exit comes as Airbus faces delays and industry-wide reliability problems with engines that soured relations with several customers and left Schulz increasingly frustrated, people familiar with the matter said. The company now has a battle on its hands to recapture lost ground after its share of orders against Boeing this year slumped to barely a quarter in the wake of a looser than usual set of commitments at the Farnborough Airshow. <br/>
general
Airlines, government agencies and academic institutions must work together to address a potential future shortfall of commercial and military pilots and other aviation employees in the coming years, US officials said Thursday. "We have a diminishing supply of qualified pilots, mechanics, and technicians," acting FAA chief Dan Elwell said Thursday. Elwell said the number of US private pilots with active certificates decreased by 27% and the number of commercial pilots fell by 21% over the last decade. US transportation secretary Elaine Chao noted that worldwide, air passengers are expected to nearly double from 4b in 2017 to 7.8b by 2036. "The bottom line is that the available pool of pilots is shrinking," Chao said. "It is incumbent on all of us to find solutions." <br/>
European commissioner for transport Violeta Bulc has criticised the bloc’s member states for lacking support to complete the European Single Sky project and called for a “more genuine” cooperation between national air navigation service providers (ANSPs). But now ANSPs from Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland are proving the can work together and across borders after concluding a new set of procedures to help optimise air traffic management over the Alps in adverse weather conditions. The partners devised the new procedures with the aim of reducing delays at Munich airport, stabilising the network and air traffic flows, reducing the workload in the Karlsruhe Upper Area Control Centre, and increasing safety under adverse weather conditions. <br/>