Pilot's Org Says Production Exceeds Pre-Pandemic Levels as Pilots Lobby Lawmakers to Maintain Safety
Pilot Shortage? Armed with current data demonstrating that the United States is producing more pilots than it did pre-COVID, leaders from ALPA are fanning out across Capitol Hill this week to meet with federal lawmakers to reiterate that the current first officer qualification standards have been a critical component in our nation’s impressive airline safety record.
Moscow Authorizes Domestic Production of Counterfeit Aircraft Parts
Russia’s aviation sector is struggling to remain operational and solvent in the wake of Western sanctions prohibiting the export—to Russia—of authorized spare parts for Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The sanctions were levied in response to Russia’s invasion of, and ongoing war with Ukraine. As the conflict enters its sixth month, operators such as flag carrier Aeroflot and its subsidiary, Rossiya are struggling to service their fleet of Western aircraft.
Regional Equipment Idle as Carrier Shifts Capacity to Larger Planes
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom states his company has parked approximately 100 aircraft. “We have probably a hundred aircraft … almost a hundred aircraft that aren’t productive right now, that aren’t flying,” Isom said at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference on 03 June 2022. American—the largest U.S. airline—is the latest domestic carrier to announce that it’s parking some regional jets due to a shortage of qualified pilots.
Trouble in the form of supply-chain delays has beset Boeing’s beleaguered, 737 MAX program. A source familiar with Boeing production schedules states the 737 MAX assembly line at the company’s Renton, WA plant sat idle for a period of roughly ten-days in May as airplanes were held in position pending delivery of parts missing because of supply chain issues. According to the source, work on production line aircraft did not stop entirely, but continued to the extent possible with extant parts.
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