Leveling the global aviation playing field

The American aviation industry has a tough road ahead of it, between heavy tax burdens, high fuel cost, and rising global competition the industry has reached a mountain of problems that, if not breached, could mean bad news for the aviation economy.

            The industry pays a wide variety of taxes, according to ALPA there are around 17 different types of taxes, they estimate that around 20% of the cost of an airline ticket goes to paying federal taxes.  The taxes on such things as tobacco and alcohol are considerably lower; ALPA goes so far to say the same taxes put on the airlines would be enough to destroy any other industry.

            The Aero News Network wonders how we can compete with our global competitors when state and federal regulations are so severe that the industry can hardly grow. Many Asiatic airlines are state-owned and have access to large amounts of capital to lend their production.

            Furthermore, taxation is not the only cause for alarm for the industry; Chinese airlines are growing faster and faster due to rising economies and a growing middle class. According to USA Today, in the last decade alone, China has built 24 commercial airports, the last airport to be built in the U.S. however was the Denver airport almost 20 years ago now. The Boeing Outlook 2013 states that China’s traveler traffic increased 10.6 percent in the last year; while America only saw a 4 percent increase.

Needless to say while China is growing rapidly, the U.S. is still growing and looking for new ways to compete, I think that it will be necessary for the industry to review its regulations and taxation policies and find new ways for the industry to grow and compete on a global level. It will be next to impossible to compete with foreign airlines that are not taxed as heavily as our own. One thing that the airlines are doing, however, to “level the playing field” is taking advantage of the Asian countries desire to travel. USA Today reports that United airlines already has 56 flights a week into China, other airlines as well are working on deals with Chinese airlines in order to reap the benefits of the rising market. I believe that playing well others in the global industry is a good idea, creating “friends” within growing countries such as China will allow us to have a hand in their market and generate revenue from an otherwise untouchable source.

ALPA. (2013, june). Leveling the playing field for u.s. airlines and their employees. Retrieved from http://www.alpa.org/publications/ALPA_White_Paper_Leveling_the_Playing_Field_June_2012/ALPA_White_Paper_Leveling_the_Playing_Field_June_2012.html

Alpa calls u.s. aviation policy 'misguided'. (2013, june 7). Retrieved from http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=f2addb25-579d-4f01-928d-2d492f9f85d0

Boeing. (2013). Asia pacific. Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/cmo/asia-pacific.page

Jones, C. (2013, January 20). China's set to rule the skies of air travel. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2013/01/20/china-air-travel/1846595/

The Global Pilot Shortage

Recently Boeing released their 2013 Boeing Pilot and Technician Outlook which predicted that the airline industry will have to hire around one million employees in the next 20 years, half of that number being pilots. Some have questioned Boeings facts and argue that they are just driving the pilot shortage debate for their own agenda, however, reading through Boeings Pilot and Technician outlook it seems that they have done their research. The numbers that they are presenting are not just based on their predictions that they will sell more airplanes, while that is a factor, it is a small consideration. A large portion of the article is dedicated to the research they put into their prediction, areas of research include present day and forecasted global market studies, taking into consideration the condition of the aviation markets and global markets. They have included competitive travel such as high speed rail travel for passengers and cargo as well as information concerning the industries rise in technologies.

            While Boeing has a list of reasons why they believe there will be a pilot shortage,USA Today, in their article Airlines Face a Pilot Shortage, Boeing Report Says narrows it down to three things. First they mention the industries growth and the need for more aircraft. Over the next 20 years there will be a rise in the amount of aircraft bought by airline companies around the world and obviously those aircraft will need to be piloted, USA Today also mentioned the large amount of retirements taking place within the industry, and the fact that there has been a recent rise in training requirements placed by the FAA as a result of the 2009 Colgan Air crash in New York. Consequently we will have more aircraft with fewer people to man then and it will take longer to train more replacements.

           Boeing also predicts that the Asian Pacific region of the world will have the highest need compared to the rest of the world. According to Boeing, China and India’s share in global GDP will rise from 28% to 36% by the year 2032. They believe that air travel to, from and within the region will continue to rise more than any other region. Boeing states that air travel in these regions allows cargo to be delivered over rough land and large bodies of water, The Wall Street Journal states that because of the rising economies in Asia that more middle class people are beginning to travel which will contribute to the need for more aircraft if the trend continues. One of the ways that the region is attempting to deal with their Pilot shortage is by offering competitive wages; in the Wall Street Journal article Chinese Airlines LurePilots with Double the Pay of U.S. Captains Chinese airlines are offering salaries up to $270,000 annually in an attempt to acquire well trained pilots from around the world.

            While the industry has a rough journey ahead and many trails to overcome in the future, challenge is not something that is new to the industry; I believe that when the industry has faced its greatest challenges are the times that it has seen its greatest success.

 

Boeing. (2013). Asia pacific. Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/cmo/asia-pacific.page

Boeing. (2013). Boeing: pilot and technician outlook. Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/cmo/pilot_technician_outlook.page

NG, J. (2013, August 23). Chinese airlines lure pilots with double the pay of u.s. captains. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323455104579012194041354578.html

Trejos, N. (2013, August 29). Airlines face a pilot shortage, boeing report says. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/08/29/airlines-face-a-pilot-shortage-boeing-report-says/2725815/

Pilot Certification and Qualification Requirements for Air Carrier Operations

In August of 2010, President Obama Signed  The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Act of 2010, after a Colgan Air flight crashed in upstate New York killing everyone in the plane and one person on the ground. The law has increased pilot flight times and training requirements in an attempt to make the airways a safer place, but how did does the law actually affect the industry and does it really serve its intended purpose or is it merely a reactive law designed to show a good face to the public?

According the Federal Register in order for a pilot to fly for a regional airline now, they must comply with all of the previous requirements, a commercial license and 250 flight hours, and must now have 1500 hours of flight time and an ATP; they must be 23 years of age and have 50 hours of multi engine time in their class. Previously pilots were only required to have 1500 hours and with no multi engine time.  However, if you have gone to an accredited college and obtained bachelors or associates’ degree with an aviation focus you can obtain a restricted privilege ATP certificate. This certificate allows pilots with only 1000 hours to operate as second in command; while this is a nice privilege for students I’m not sure that an academic background ensures better pilot ability over those without an academic background.

Further changes that were made will also have an impact on colleges as they will now have to hold a letter of authorization. If at any time the FAA feels that the school is unable to carry out the expected standard then the letter can be revoked. Colleges were not held to this standard before which ensured that the student’s degree would be worth their time; however students attending a college whose letter of authorization is revoked would lose their qualification for the restricted privilege certification. The letter of authorization, then, has a huge affect on both the college and the student in the case that it is revoked hinders the student and can hurt a college’s academic credibility.

Some may deem it reasonable to assume that higher training requirements would produce better pilots and it may, however it is my opinion that it will not have that great of an effect on the pilots ability, and it will hinder the industry as a whole. Pilots look forward to the day that they can get paid to build flight hours instead of paying to build flight hours, by extending this and putting the financial burden on the pilots it could potentially hinder moral and passion in the lower ranks and those looking to enter the regional airlines. The Coalition of Airline Pilots Association seem to be in support of the extended requirements based on the fact that the positions use to be given to individuals who held experience in excess to the ATP regulations and now because of the economic turn the jobs pay much less and have driven away more experienced pilots. While this is true I believe that it is difficult to expect pilots to go into further debt and seek higher levels of experience for the amount of compensation that can be earned at another job requiring little to no experience at all. The director for the National Association of Flight Instructors, Jason Blair believes that it will decrease “pilot motivation for career pursuit.” Which I believe hits the nail on the head. Pilots who have been working towards that 250 hour mark and hoping to land a job are now being forced to gain six times the amount of hours. It is my belief that pilots will simply find something else to do.

While the new requirement places a large burden on pilots, it also put a big burden on the airlines, an article on mondaq.com mentions the to do list that it created for airlines that had to be completed before the August 2^nd,  2013 deadline. Air carriers were required to make sure that all pilots holding 2^nd class medicals were issued 1^st class certificates, the pilots that had less than the newly required flight hours had to be brought up to the new standard and make sure that their regional sections were in compliance as well.

I do not argue that safety is not important and new ways of procuring safe airways should not be researched, however I believe that the new ATP requirements were made out of haste and that little to no consideration for its affect on the airline industry or its pilots was made.

huerta, M. (2013, 7 10). Pilot certification and qualification requirements for air carrier operations. Retrieved from https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/07/15/2013-16849/pilot-certification-and-qualification-requirements-for-air-carrier-operations

Kuwitzky, C. (2012, 4 30). capa comments on the "pilot certification and qualification requirements nprm . Retrieved from http://www.capapilots.org/capa-comment-on-the-pilot-certification-and-qualification-requirements

The global impact of the faa nprm regarding pilot certification and qualification requirements for air carrier operations (u.s.). (2012, 3 21). Retrieved from http://www.iaftp.org/2012/03/the-global-impact-of-the-faa-nprm-regarding-pilot-certification-and-qualification-requirements-for-air-carrier-operations-u-s/

Jerman, T., & Macpherson, R. (2013, 4 22). United states: Pending deadline for airline transport pilot certificates may place u.s. carriers in a lurch. Retrieved from http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/234736/Aviation/Pending Deadline For Airline Transport Pilot Certificates May

My name is Michael Varney and I am a senior in the Aviation Management Technology program at Eastern Michigan University. I started my education Washtenaw Community College and I did not have much of an idea where my future was headed. After spending a couple years taking general education classes someone invited me to the air show at Willow Run. Once I got there I knew immediately that I wanted something to do with airplanes.

The week after the air show I spent quite a bit of time researching flight lessons and schools and stumbled across Eastern’s aviation program, within the week I transferred schools and registered with the program. Until recently however I was not sure what I wanted my career to look like. Like everyone else I’m sure, I have had fantasies about working here or there halfway around the world, or flying for this company or doing that, in the last few years I have had at least twenty different plans. It hasn’t been until very recently that I started to get an idea of what I truly wanted to do.

In the last few years I have taking a liking to writing and even wrote a paper for a literature class that was nominated for the Undergraduate Paper of the year, I did not win but even being considered for the award was a great honor. It has recently struck me to combine the two things that I like and pursue a career writing about aviation. I still wonder about the possibilities and what a career like that might have to offer but I suppose I’ll have to wait to find out.