Good News for Airports and Airlines in South Africa

By Staff Writer

The new transport minister Sindiswe Chikunga has reaffirmed the air transport industry’s commitment to improving through partnerships with private enterprises and investment opportunities.

The industry is fundamentally different to how it was five years ago; these are realities that policy needs to be adjusted to account for, she said. South Africa’s air travel industry is looking to focus on emerging technologies as well as changes in consumer behaviour.

Air travel in South Africa has been under scrutiny over recent years due to its high cost, even domestic travel.

Compounding issues, including a 40% drop in air capacity in 2022 after leading airline Comair liquidated, aviation fuel costs skyrocketing by 80% and increased demand following travel restrictions being lifted, have all contributed to increased ticket prices.

ArecentstudybyDiscoveryBankinpartnership with Visa found that South African ticket prices increased by 30% to55% for local flights in 2022, compared to 2019.

The study further showed that when looking at travel transactions across international and domestic flights, South Africans now spend 14% moreonleisureand24%moreonbusinesstravel per trip.

It added that travel spending on flight tickets for domestic flights increased six times more than that on international flights.

https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/687123/ good-news-for-airports-and-airlines-in-southafrica/

By Brunno Braga

The US airline industry is about to face a “tsunami of pilot retirements.” This situation will further the nation’s pilot shortage, limitingflightavailabilityforpassengersandputting upwardpressureonfares.Morethanhalfofpilots working today hit the mandatory retirement age of 65 in the next 15 years. In addition, younger pilots are not making up for those aging out. This is what a group from the aviation industry said at a hearing in Congress onApril 19.

According to Faye Malarkey Black, president and CEO of the Regional Airline Association, 42 states have less airline service now than before the pandemic, 136 airports have lost at least a quarter of their service. Also, more than 500 planes belonging to regional airlines are sitting idle without enough pilots to fly them.

The “severe and ongoing pilot shortage” is nationwide, Black told CNN.

Mostairlineshaveyettofullyrestoretheservice cuts they made during the pandemic, even in the face of record bookings at some carriers.

The Regional Airline Association warned of a significant pilot shortage. RAA chief Black argued that the airlines are under-staffed due to inadequate pay and quality of life conditions.

The group represents the regional carriers whichprovidefeederserviceforthelargerairlines suchasAmerican,UnitedandDelta.Thosemajor airlines are also facing shortages of pilots, but they’ve been hiring pilots away from the regional carriers. It causes an even worse problem for passengers and cities which depend on them, Black commented.

USAirlines Pilot Training Programs

The large airlines hired more than 13,000 pilots in 2022, according to Black. Nearly all are from the smaller carriers that the RAA represents. More pilots earned licenses last year than ever before. However, those 9,500 new entrants were not enough to keep pace with demand.

Black said the cost of training for a new pilot canbe$80,000, with total costs reaching $200,000 when combined with the cost of a bachelor’s degree. She said federal financial aid is insufficient to give poorer students a chance become pilots. https://travelnoire.com/us-airlines-face-major-pilotshortage

“Unlikeothercareerpathsthatrequireadditional professional credentialing, such as doctors and lawyers, accredited pilot training programs can’t access additional lending available through graduate aid programs to cover the higher costs,” she said.

Black, the head of the RAA, says that both business and charter airlines are also hiring. But Jason Ambrosi, President of the Air Line Pilots Association, told the House Transportation subcommittee that airlines are short-staffed because pilots aren’t paid enough. For him, they work in bad conditions and because managers made bad decisions during the pandemic.

He said that raising the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67 would make it hard for airlines to make long-term plans. By law, pilots over the age of 65 can’t fly on international routes.

The hearing also discussed a lack of diversity among pilots. This is because pilots tend to be mostly male and mostly white. Changing that could also help address any pilot shortages.

“There was a widely acknowledged shortage of pilotsevenbeforethepandemic,butmanyairlines offered buyouts and early retirement packages to trim costs during the pandemic,”Ambrosi said.