Global Aviation

With the airlines being a very competitive industry these days it becomes difficult for U.S. Airline companies to keep pace with international companies that are slowly starting to enter the industry and they are making a huge foot print. It is a known fact that air travel is the quickest and one of the safest methods in order to travel. "In 2013 there were some 36.4 million flights and only 16 fatal accidents. If you were flying on a jet aircraft your chances in being involved in a major accident were one in 2.4 million this means that there were about 210 fatalities" (Biggest Challenges).

As new airlines enter the industry it becomes difficult for domestic airlines to make a profit. As a new airline emerges that might offer a lower airfare than a domestic carrier. This might be possible since international airline companies are able to purchase U.S. aircraft at a discounted price to keep up with importing/exporting market. It is a known a fact that over the last century airlines have been breaking  even. "On average airlines makes less than $6 per passenger. On about $750 billion in revenue we expect a net profit of just $18 billion" (Biggest Challenges). This breaks down to a 2.4% profit margin for domestic airlines. With the international airlines emerging hopefully this does not decrease this number even further and put domestic airlines into a bankruptcy situation again.

As everyone already knows Americans live in the world of technology. As computers, cell phones and many other pieces of technology change multiple times a year this is also the same with the technology in our aircraft. As airlines continue to find to ways to cut costs to increase their net profit it might be time for them to look at upgrading their aircraft's technology. The FAA is pushing for the Next Generation Air Transportation System or commonly know as "NextGen" this is helping airlines enhance safety and efficiency by transforming the aviation infrastructure. The NextGen technologies and procedures will "guide aircraft on more direct routes, improve communications, save fuel and decrease delays. NextGen is not only good for the environment, but it also reduces costs to airlines and is good for business, jobs and the manufacturing base" (Aviation Today). As airlines determine to save money here and there on technology upgrades this may allow them to increase first year pilot salaries for domestic airlines and keeping those coming into the job market to stay in the U.S. for their career.

By international airlines able to offer lower airfares this opens to doors for the airline to offer higher salaries and signing bonuses for a well qualified pilot. With those airlines making it more attractive for future pilots to work for their airline rather than a domestic airline this will create a bigger demand for pilots in the U.S. If someone could live and fly for an airline in Dubai and get a higher salary and signing bonus it would make more sense for that person to work for that airline. As the guest speaker stated last week "he could go work there for three years in Asia than he would make here in almost 10 years." With those possibilities arising for future pilots it is going to be interesting to see what happens with the future job market. If domestic airlines do not start paying competitive salaries I would suspect that a lot of first year pilots might be traveling to international airline companies.


http://www.wns.com/Resources/Articles/Article-Details/104/5-Trends-for-the-Global-Airline-Industry.aspx

http://www.aviationtoday.com/the-checklist/US-Aviation-Industry-Faces-Global-Challenges_80834.html#.VQnY-tLF9WI

http://skift.com/2014/10/14/3-biggest-challenges-facing-the-global-aviation-industry/