Aviation

$10000 Offers Get Off A Plane, CEO Apologies And Free Pizza

A woman falls to her death while boarding a flight in Turkey, falling 50 feet from the boarding bridge of an aeroplane.

$10,000 offers to get off a plane, CEO apologies and free pizza: Here’s how a massive labor shortage and pent-up demand helped create a chaotic summer for airlines.

Each holiday weekend this summer has ended in chaos for many travelers facing huge numbers of flight cancellations and delays. July Fourth weekend could likely be more of the same. According to sources data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, there have already been more airline delays in 2022 than in any year during the previous ten years, and there have also been a lot more flight cancellations. Airlines have offered passengers a variety of criteria, including pizza during delayed flights and $10,000 cash to board empty aircraft. Additionally, the Delta CEO issued an apology to the travelling public for the delays.

More than two years after the COVID pandemic, people have begun to travel again. However, as demand increases, experts say airlines are finding it difficult to meet demand with a pilot labor pool that has not yet recovered from the COVID pandemic’s two-year shrinkage.

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, stated on a quarterly investor call in April that “the pilot shortage for the industry is genuine. And the majority of airlines just won’t be able to fulfil their capacity plans because there aren’t enough pilots, at least not for the ensuing five or more years.

A pandemic-tightened labor supply

When the pandemic stopped the majority of air travel in early 2020 and lockdowns kept millions of Americans and foreign travellers at home due to lockdowns, the airline business suffered severely.

Over the course of 18 months, Congress gave the airline sector three rounds of help totaling $54 billion to keep it afloat. The money was allocated to maintain payrolls so that when limitations were relaxed and travel resumed, there would be an adequate number of pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants.

Tajer claims that as a result, thousands of pilots probably quit their jobs early. According sources to the APA, 715 pilots at American alone have opted for early retirement in 2020.Due to the lower number of available pilots and the increased demand for flights this summer, the pilot labour pool is currently under stress, with airlines bidding against one another for candidates. According to Tajer, other major airlines are starting to hire pilots from American’s regional partners to join their mainline crew.The aviation industry will require a total of 612,000 new pilots along with over a million new maintenance staff and cabin crew over the next 20 years.

Aviation

Aeroflot Buys Used Planes for Spare Parts Amid Sanctions

In the face of ongoing Western sanctions that have severely impacted Russia’s aviation industry, Aeroflot, the country’s largest airline, has devised a strategic plan to bolster its fleet’s spare parts inventory.

The airline is set to acquire five Boeing 737-800BCF freighters from Atran Airlines, a move that will allow it to dismantle the aircraft for critical components. The planes, which will be transferred to Aeroflot’s low-cost subsidiary Pobeda, will not be converted into passenger jets but instead will be stripped for valuable parts to support existing operations.

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Aeroflot’s plan to purchase these Boeing 737-800BCF freighters comes as part of a broader strategy to mitigate the effects of Western sanctions, which have crippled the Russian aviation sector. With the sanctions restricting access to essential aircraft parts and spare components, Aeroflot is exploring alternative ways to maintain and repair its fleet.

Instead of converting the freighters from cargo to passenger planes, a process deemed “unreasonably expensive” under current sanctions, the airline intends to focus on extracting high-value components such as engines, landing gear, avionics, and other essential systems.

The deal will be structured in a way that allows Aeroflot to indirectly purchase the freighters through an insurance settlement with the aircraft’s lessor, AerCap.

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The Russian government’s insurance company will reimburse the aircraft’s value, and the planes will then be leased back to local operators. This method circumvents some of the restrictions imposed by international sanctions while ensuring that the airline gains access to the necessary components to support its fleet.

By dismantling the aircraft for spare parts, Aeroflot aims to secure critical resources for the ongoing maintenance of its existing fleet. Components from the Boeing 737-800BCF freighters, such as engines and avionics, are expected to be reused in other aircraft within Aeroflot’s network, ensuring that the airline can keep its operations running smoothly