general

Despite an industry slump that has seen mass pilot lay-offs, the global civil aviation industry will still require an estimated 27,000 new pilots by the end of 2021, or 264,000 over the coming decade. That forecast comes from Canadian training and simulator provider CAE, which on Monday released its latest prediction covering the demand and availability of pilots through 2029. This year, the number of active pilots has declined year on year by around 87,000 to about 300,000, but will bump up to an estimated 374,000 by the end of 2021, says CAE. Though still less than 2019 levels, by the end of next year “age-based retirements and attrition” will leave the industry short 27,000 flightcrew, says the study. That figure will balloon over 10 years to a requirement for more than 264,000 new pilots, CAE says. “Despite the short-term decline in the number of active pilots due to the impact of Covid-19, the civil aviation industry is expected to require more than 260,000 new pilots over the next decade,” CAE says. “Fundamental factors influencing pilot demand prior to the Covid-19 outbreak remain unchanged. Age-based retirement and fleet growth were, and are expected to remain, the main drivers of pilot demand.”<br/>

Canada is ready to start talks with major airlines this week about financial assistance to the hard-hit sector that could come in the form of loans or other support, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Sunday. The government is drafting a package of measures for Canadian airlines, airports and the aerospace sector, Garneau said, confirming an exclusive story last week by Reuters. “As part of this package, we are ready to establish a process with major airlines regarding financial assistance which could include loans and potentially other support to secure important results for Canadians,” Garneau said. He said it would ensure that regional communities would retain their connections to the rest of Canada, the world’s second-largest country by area, and added that “strict conditions” would come with any aid. Garneau also said Canada would not spend “one penny of taxpayer money on airlines” until Canadians received refunds for flights that were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. <br/>

Britain is making good progress with a plan to allow COVID-19 tests to cut a 14-day quarantine period for those returning from abroad, a change which could help fuel a travel recovery once current lockdowns end, the transport minister said. Airport bosses welcomed the update from the minister, Grant Shapps, at an online conference but said more needed to be done. The top priority for them is that the government eliminates the requirement for quarantine through testing for the coronavirus. “We’re making very good progress on a ‘test to release programme’ to launch once we’re out of this lockdown,” Shapps said Monday. “Once we emerge from the lockdown, we can roll out new systems to help get people flying and travelling again.” UK airports and airlines said that a shorter quarantine period was even more crucial after a new four-week lockdown imposed in England until Dec. 2 wiped out any of the remaining meagre income they were still making from low levels of travel during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have called for extra government help, asking for tax holidays from requirements such as air passenger duty and business rates. But Shapps said the primary solution to aviation companies’ financial problems would be getting customers flying again, “ideally through the development of an effective vaccine”.<br/>

Asia's major airlines are restructuring their operations and bolstering their finances to smooth the way for a return to profitability or at least gain some resilience amid a pandemic that shows no sign of letting up. In the latest batch of financial results released through last week, most of the region's largest airlines by market value reported big net losses for the July-September quarter, with Singapore Airlines reporting a record loss of S$2.34b dollars ($1.73b). The red ink has wiped out shareholders' equity and forced Singapore Airlines and other operators to go to their investors for capital infusions. As a result, total shareholders' equity at 10 major airlines from Japan and China to Southeast Asia and India declined by about $8b from a year earlier. Garuda Indonesia, which in June sank into negative net worth, logged a net loss of some $360m for the quarter, further weakening its financial position. THAI also dropped into negative net worth as of that month. In Japan, ANA Holdings, which suffered a quarterly loss of 79.6b yen ($770m), and Japan Airlines, hit by a Y67.5b, revealed earnings projections for the current fiscal year ending March. ANA expects a record net loss of 510 billion yen, while Japan Airlines is projecting a net loss of between Y240b to Y270b. JAL has not recorded a net loss since relisting in 2012. Story has more background. Meanwhile, Chinese airlines are leading the way to recovery. China Southern returned to a net profit of 711m yuan ($108m) in the July-September quarter on the back of robust domestic passenger demand.<br/>

The EU said Monday that it would begin imposing sweeping tariffs on around $4b worth of American aircraft, food, drinks and other products beginning Tuesday, an action cleared by the WTO last month after it said Europe could retaliate against the US for years of illegal subsidies given to Boeing. The decision, which stems from a 16-year-old dispute before the global trade body, comes after the Trump administration last year decided to impose tariffs on as much as $7.5b in European exports annually as retaliation for what the WTO ruled were illegal subsidies given to Airbus, Boeing’s main rival. European officials, however, say they are hoping for a settlement between the two countries that would end to the tit-for-tat tariffs once and for all, perhaps even before President Trump leaves office on Jan. 20 to make way for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to a European Union official with knowledge of the cases who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss private negotiations. It remains to be seen if the European tariffs will encourage the US to negotiate — or if they further inflame a trans-Atlantic trade spat where the Trump administration has vowed not to bend. In a statement Monday, Robert E. Lighthizer, the US trade representative, said the US “is disappointed” by the EU’s decision. “The alleged subsidy to Boeing was repealed seven months ago,” Lighthizer said, referring to a Washington State tax break that was rescinded last spring. “The EU has long proclaimed its commitment to following WTO rules, but today’s announcement shows they do so only when convenient to them.”<br/>

The US FAA is in the final stages of reviewing proposed changes to Boeing’s 737 Max and expects to complete the process in the “coming days,” the agency’s chief said Monday. Three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters the FAA is set to approve the plane’s ungrounding as early as Nov 18. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said that he expects “this process will be finished in the coming days, once the agency is satisfied that Boeing has addressed” safety issues involved in two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. Boeing declined to comment. The ungrounding would be a vital step in a still-arduous path to recovery for Boeing, plunged into its worst-ever crisis by the crashes and the worldwide grounding of its best-selling plane in March 2019. “The FAA continues to engage with aviation authorities around the world as they prepare to validate our certification decision,” Dickson said. “As I have said many times before, the agency will take the time that it needs to thoroughly review the remaining work. Even though we are near the finish line, I will lift the grounding order only after our safety experts are satisfied that the aircraft meets certification standards.” Following the FAA green light, airlines must complete software updates and fresh pilot training, a process that will take at least 30 days, before the planes can return to the skies.<br/>