The modern migration of peoples in world aviation, which erupted with a sense of the end of the Corona period, is experiencing difficulties these days right in the form of chaos in the aviation industry. The world is getting out of the confines of the corona virus, and the warnings about the sixth variant (variant) of the virus are falling on deaf ears. Most of the restrictions on the passenger public have been lifted, and we can all fly without masks inside the crowded planes. The Biden administration also repealed the mandatory requirement to present proof that the passenger had passed a corona check prior to entering the US – a decision that further increases the demand for flights to the US from around the world.
The depreciation of European currencies due to the strengthening of the world dollar due to the massive interest rate hikes by the Fed have made Europe cheaper in the eyes of Americans – which increases the demand for transatlantic flights to the “old” continent. The abolition of the requirement for a full vaccine against the corona virus in Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand has led to a sharp increase in demand for flights to Southeast Asia by tens of percent.
Flight ticket prices (including the accompanying holiday) in Southeast Asia have doubled. The price of jet fuel has risen by about 130% in the past year. Flight schedules at world airports consistently show the sign CANCELLED – no delay or delay, just cancellation of flights. American and European airlines are canceling tens of thousands of flights and causing anguish to travelers on summer vacations in the Northern Hemisphere.
In Europe and the UK, 2,000 flights were canceled in one week, mainly from major airports, such as Schiphol in the Netherlands and Heathrow in England. The passengers who do get a seat on the sardine planes are dragged for long hours, even over four hours, in a long line outside the terminal, as predicted in Terminal 1 in Israel.
Some European airports have decided to save on investments, and some of the “expansion of the terminal” to accommodate the huge passenger traffic is done through tents and portable covers, under which the passenger spends so that he does not dry up due to lack of water along the road, until he is allowed inside.
Of course, it is not possible to give up the means of security on the flight and the security checks of the passengers and their dignity. There are not enough workers and not enough equipment and machines to handle the endless stream of passengers who must pass security checks. The result: delays in the departure of flights that lead to delays in the entire flight schedule for the weeks ahead – a delay leads to a delay for the entire complex system of flights.
Heathrow and Gatwick UK airports have informed airlines that they need to cut the flight schedule, sharp and smooth. Although it is possible to recruit workers in place of those who were fired or left during the Corona period, the training takes time and there is no place to round corners. The wage demands of the new employees are higher than expected from the airport managers. American Airlines has decided to discontinue operations at three U.S. airports in early September.
Southwest Airlines canceled 1,300 flights last week because calls to update pilots’ salaries came to a dead end. The pilots, like other workers in various sectors in the US, are unwilling to fly in yesterday’s salaries that were eroded due to 8.6% inflation in the past year. United Airlines has decided to change direction, raise wages for their workers by 14% and pay for maternity leave El Al also cancels lines to Warsaw, Brussels and Toronto.
Pilots or flying?
El Al pilots, who are in conflict with the company’s management regarding their pay, do not report for flights that have been added beyond the planned flight schedule or that they sometimes announce that they are “sick.” Flights are canceled, passengers are disappointed. The Labor Court is required in their case at the request of the company. At the same time, El-Al sells to the subsidiary the “frequent flyer” activity: part of the proceeds from the activity will come from a loan provided by the Phoenix Insurance Company to the subsidiary and part of El-Al’s own loan. The main thing is that El-Al will have more cash to deal with the increase in workers’ costs and jet fuel.
In the world, the crew of air crews changes frequently: even the pilots who are ready to fly no longer know where and when to fly. Pilots at the American airline Delta claim that they are tired, they are tired of waiting, because the company’s management sets a flight schedule that is clear from the beginning that it will not be able to meet (due to lack of pilots). American airlines say they can not meet the wage requirements. They also can not meet the huge demand for flights, there are simply not enough qualified pilots to fly the planes.
The shortage of skilled pilots with the required relevant certificates is due to the fact that some of them retired early in the Corona virus period, and some went to the IDF to save capital companies and expenses they could not afford. , A series of introductory flights, in order to obtain up-to-date permits required to fly a passenger aircraft, according to the Federal Aviation Authority.
You can’t sit at home for two years and just fly a plane like that again. In 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration issued only 4,928 new certificates of competency to new pilots – half the planned amount. There is no shortcut: a new pilot has to go through 1,500 flight hours, and a captain – 2,500 flight hours to get a certificate of competency to fly a passenger plane. Those who receive a certificate of competency negotiate with some airlines to improve their terms.
The phenomenon worldwide, tens of thousands of flights canceled around the world, tens of thousands of flights from others and leading to frustration of air crews and passengers. The flights do not depart on time and cause frustration from the US to Europe, India and Japan. There are also not enough maintenance technicians for the aircraft systems, who must fly safely, according to the aircraft manufacturers’ instructions and the orders and orders of the governments in which they are registered. American, the number of pilots and technicians has dropped by 4% in the last two years.
Hungry for workers
The aircraft manufacturer, whose services we have all enjoyed for decades, Boeing last year watched an update it made that for two decades, until 2040, 635,000 pilots will be required for passenger and commercial aircraft. The aviation industry today is hungrier than ever for air and ground crews. Potential workers are in no hurry to this industry, which in the past radiated luxury and glamor that accompanies mystery to the men and women in the world-wide vacation industry.
The new generation is no longer as enthusiastic about the aviation industry as the previous generation was captivated by the charm of aviation. Pilots, aircraft technicians, flight attendants, air and ground crews and porters suddenly realize that working in the aviation industry requires long working hours, round-the-clock shifts all days of the week, distance from home, spouses and children, all without being compensated for them.
Today most of the economic activity in the world is computerized, young people want to work comfortably from their offices or from home using computers and smart software – why bother with an aging industry that is no longer challenging, like aviation? At the time of the Corona virus, young people found more stable and lucrative jobs – allowing them to save and join the movement of travelers around the world through the airlines they worked for only a few years ago.
The ground crews left at work have gone on strike to raise wages, such as at terminals in London or Paris these very days. Currently with the outbreak of demand for flights the number of workers worldwide in the aviation industry has dropped to 43.8 million compared to 87.7 million before the corona virus, according to the World Air Transport Organization.
It takes at least two years to get a certificate as an aircraft mechanic, and young people do not have the patience to be present in the field, in the classroom and in the aircraft garages, who are required to study the professions of advanced mechanics that require skill and seriousness. In the United States, only about 70% pass the certification exams for aircraft mechanics, and until then they will pay tuition and consume valuable time.
Those who pass the exams should be better school graduates than before, because the old technicians are gone: today the tests are done using smart computer software for smart planes that fly not only using engines but also using smart software. In fact, the technicians or supervisors in them should already have more academic credentials. The result is that a modern technician has to go through about 1,900 hours of training to be qualified to handle a modern aircraft – this is no longer a trivial matter. Therefore the demands of the schools for the training of technicians are rising.
The UK government announced a year ago that it was working on ways to attract skilled technicians to the aviation industry. U.S. experts predict that by 2027 there will be a shortage of 15,000 skilled aircraft technicians in the U.S. alone. Boeing estimates that the aviation industry between Asia and North America and the Pacific will grow at such a sharp rate that with the rest of the world 754,000 qualified and skilled aircraft technicians will be needed in the next two decades.
Some aircraft technicians retired during the Corona period, and some are no longer skilled at handling the latest passenger aircraft – a treatment that requires new and dedicated aircraft skills with new technology. Not only that, there is a growing shortage of workers in regional, multi-regional and inter-state control towers – which is already causing disruptions in the global navigation of passenger planes during peak hours despite the formidable air traffic control computer systems. There is also a lack of security workers and deaf policemen at the busiest airports than ever before – something that could increase the risk to passengers.
You’ve already heard about carrying luggage. Yes, it is possible to deliver a cargo that will go to the belly of the plane and it is not at all certain that it will reach its destination. It turns out that because of the load of smart conveyors, which could read characters and navigate luggage to their destination in the conveyor system at airports to the plane, they got tired and switched to accumulating unknown luggage. Passengers, who have booked a pampering holiday after watching online publications, first discover that passengers from the previous flight to the destination have not yet arrived at the luggage conveyors or passed border checks, flight passengers on flight unite in a long and new queue at the destination port.
The pilots also discover that some of their vacation days have undergone a sharp bite, and the vacation is actually shorter. They have barely reached the coveted destination of the vacationers and they already have to get organized on the way back to catch a queue and get home safely. In other words, there seems to be nothing like home in the crazy days of Tammuz of the year 5722.