Aviation Industry Updates: Dec 12, 2023

Air Force Dangles $600,000 In Bonuses To Keep Pilots In Uniform

KEY POINTS:

• Air Force pilots and others in rated fields who opt to stay in uniform can earn up to $600,000 over 12 years under the latest round of retention bonuses announced Nov. 30.
• The fiscal year 2024 incentives offer manned aircraft and drone pilots, combat systems operators and air battle managers an extra $15,000 to $50,000 per year, depending on their assigned aircraft and the years to which they commit.
• Annual bonus pay programs aim to keep airmen around to blunt the effects of a pilot shortage that has lasted decades, robbing the service of aviators in policy jobs that rely on their know-how to help the service plan for the future.
• “The requirement to preserve critical skills in our Air Force has never been more important,” Maj. Gen. Adrian Spain, the training and readiness director at Air Force headquarters, said in a Nov. 30 release. “Retaining these professional aviators’ experience and expertise … is imperative in order to outpace future challenges.”

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Amerijet Parks Boeing 757s As Cargo Downturn Bites

KEY POINTS:

• After years of rapid fleet expansion, Amerijet has joined the ranks of cargo airlines that are cutting back their operations at the end of 2023 as the air cargo industry tries to find a new normal. The Miami-based airline has begun to park some of its freighter aircraft in response to the downturn in the air cargo market.
• A recent report by Freightwaves cites an Amerijet internal memo that indicates the airline was looking to park one of its freighters and defer heavy maintenance on two other aircraft as the airline struggles with higher cost, lower demand, and the end of two major contracts with the US Postal Service and DHL Express.
• Amerijet operates a fleet of 22 aircraft, operating both 767s and 757s. It has six 757s in total, which the airline began acquiring in 2021 after it retired its 727 fleet. According to data available on Flightradar24, at least two 757-200s, N286GB and N818NH, have remained parked since April and October, respectively. Both of these freighters are operated on lease and were converted by Precision Aircraft Solutions after serving multiple airlines in passenger service.

Simple Flying

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

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How Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Merger Compares to JetBlue, Spirit Deal

KEY POINTS:

• The deal still has to pass scrutiny by federal regulators, with the usual words being thrown around, like airfare pricing, competition and monopolies.
• Right now, the Department of Justice is fighting in a Boston federal court to block the merger between JetBlue and Spirit. The DOJ believes any merger will increase airfare prices and create a lack of competition.
• The same scenario could play out in this proposed merger between Alaska and Hawaiian. But what potentially makes this different is that both Alaska and Hawaiian have different and distinct customer bases. 
• In fact, of more than 1,800 combined flights, there are less than two dozen that overlap.
  “This combination is an exciting next step in our collective journey to provide a better travel experience for our guests and expand options for West Coast and Hawai‘i travelers,” Ben Minicucci, Alaska Airlines CEO, said in a release.

Travel Pulse

Opinion: Pilot Certifications Are Booming, But When Can We Hire Them?

KEY POINTS:

• New pilot certificate issuances from the FAA have increased a whopping 77% since 2019, according to recently released data from Jefferies. This is welcome news to the business aviation industry as well as the airlines, who have had unprecedented crew shortages and scheduling interruptions since the pandemic. With pilot salaries booming and companies desperate for skilled aviators, the cost-benefit calculation for future pilots makes more sense than ever. But it raises a key question: Can the industry train enough pilots to solve the shortage?
• Jo Damato—a certified aviation manager who serves as senior vice president of education, training and workforce at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)—is one of the key players working on these challenges on behalf of the industry. She highlights that while this boom in certifications is promising, there is a concern that these figures may be attributed to the backlog from COVID, which was also impacted by a shortage of Designated Pilot Examiners (DPE).
• “I’m encouraged to see the increase in certifications, but I believe the level of Air Transport Pilot [ATP] certifications that will come through in 2024 may be more telling of where we’re at as an industry—once the COVID ‘cache’ is cleared,” she says.
• Estimates of how many pilots are needed to supply the industry are hotly debated. Some industry analysts estimate that airline and regional airlines are short of about 17,000 pilots and corporate aviation gaps by 3,750. Jefferies data estimates a current airline shortage of 5,000 pilots, while consulting firm Oliver Wyman estimates 14,300. The Air Line Pilots Association, on the other hand, says there are more than enough pilots and that the real problem is inefficient training pipelines.

Aviation Week

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