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Aviation Industry Updates: January 31, 2023

James Onieal : Jan 31, 2023 7:10:44 AM

Industry News Export

American Says They Prefer Domestic Over International

American Airlines has increasingly become a domestic airline. Even though it’s the largest airline, it’s less of a global airline even than it was prior to the pandemic. They don’t fly as much to Europe and they haven’t built back much of their flying to Asia.

In fact they no longer consider Los Angeles to be their gateway to Asia, and a lot of their flying to secondary cities in Europe has been halted. That’s meant a real reduction in activity in Philadelphia, where those Europe flights were based, since domestic connections were optimized to support those transatlantic trips as well.

Following American’s fourth quarter earnings call, Vice President of Network Planning Brian Znotins explained the choice to focus on new domestic routes over new international ones during an employee meeting, a recording of which was reviewed by View From The Wing.

“At American, given our history and our results, the next new destination – that sexy dot on the map isn’t sexy to us unless it’s going to make a lot of money. Sexy for us is profitability. And so for us, in our network, we have a lot of strength in our domestic network.”

View From The Wing

We Just Got A Pilot With FOUR 121 Checkride Failures Hired At A Legacy

I don’t know why you haven’t gotten an interview yet… But, if you book a call, we’ve got the resources to figure it out and help you get one ASAP.

Hawaiian Airlines’ 1,000 Pilots Set To Vote On New Contract | Significantly Boosts Pay

KEY POINTS:

A tentative labor agreement last week could make Hawaiian Airlines’ pilots the highest paid in the cargo industry, exceeding compensation levels at traditional standard-bearers FedEx Express and UPS, as the Honolulu-based carrier prepares to begin flying heavy freighters for Amazon later this year.

Amazon’s private airline will incur higher expenses, but locking in a lucrative, long-term contract ensures Hawaiian Airlines (NASDAQ: HA) labor stability and enables it to attract crew members during a period of pilot scarcity — features Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) will likely find attractive for reliable deliveries.

The Air Line Pilots Association announced Thursday that negotiators had reached agreement with Hawaiian Airlines on a four-year contract that significantly boosts pilot pay, including for the carrier’s new cargo operation. The increase makes pay scales at Hawaiian very competitive with the top all-cargo carriers as well as passenger majors such as Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, according to union data.

The new terms of employment include an average 32.9% pay increase over the duration of the deal for Hawaiian’s three aircraft types (plus future freighters and Boeing 787s), led by an average 16.6% increase at the time of signing. The deal includes a signing bonus, raises company retirement contributions, creates a health reimbursement account, increases schedule flexibility and addresses quality of life.

Hawaiian Airlines’ 1,000 pilots will vote on the new deal over two weeks, beginning Friday. If ratified, the contract will take effect on March 2.

Freight Waves

We Just Got A Pilot With A Gear Up Landing Hired At A Major

I don’t know why you haven’t gotten an interview yet… But, if you book a call, we’ve got the resources to figure it out and help you get one ASAP.

United Graduates First Class from Aviate Pilot Academy

KEY POINTS:

A first of its kind, UAA is a significant investment in creating additional pathways to the flight deck as the airline plans to hire 10,000 new pilots by the end of the decade. Of the 51 graduates, 39 percent were women, 69 percent were people of color, and 84 percent came in with no prior flight experience.

The academy is well on its way to its goal of training 5,000 new pilots with at least half being women or people of color by 2030. Since opening in 2021, UAA has accepted 240 students and received more than 22,000 applications from aspiring students.

United CEO Scott Kirby was on hand to honor the graduates as the day’s commencement speaker.

“United is leading the industry in the training, recruitment, and hiring of the next generation of talented commercial pilots, and the progress we’ve made at United Aviate Academy after just one year is another example of an airline where good leads the way,” said Kirby. “I’m so proud of this first class of graduates—they’ve taken an important first step in their career, and they reflect our commitment to hiring people who exceed the highest professional and safety standards. I look forward to eventually welcoming them to our United team, and I can’t wait to see them flying our new United Next planes in the years to come.”

Flying Mag

US Regional Airlines Have One In Five Jets On The Ground

KEY POINTS:

At least one in five commercial jets for major US regional airlines was on the ground, according to Planespotters data compiled by Air Data News.

Among the nearly 1,700 planes from 11 carriers that work with the country’s major airlines, 376 were listed as parked this week.

The number of aircraft represents 22% of the fleet, a worrying sign due to the high cost of keeping such an important asset idle.

The company with the most grounded aircraft is GoJet, which is part of the United Express network. Of the 67 CRJ-700s it owns, 33 were not flying, or almost half of them.

Mesa Airlines is another worrying case. The independent regional has 54 of the 90 jets parked, including CRJ-900 and E175 models.

Air Data News

We Just Got A Pilot With 2200 Hours Hired At A Legacy

I don’t know why you haven’t gotten an interview yet… But, if you book a call, we’ve got the resources to figure it out and help you get one ASAP.