Airlines shutdown risk 25 million jobs
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Globally, the livelihoods of some 65.5 million people are dependent on the aviation industry, including sectors such as travel and tourism. Among these are 2.7 million airlines jobs.
In a scenario of severe travel restrictions lasting for three months, IATA research calculates that 25 million jobs in aviation and related sectors are endangered across the world:
• 11.2 million jobs in Asia-Pacific
• 5.6 million jobs in Europe
• 2.9 million jobs in Latin America
• 2.0 million jobs in North America
• 2.0 million jobs in Africa
• 0.9 million jobs in the Middle East
In the same scenario, airlines are expected to see full year passenger revenues fall by $252 billion or minus 44% in 2020 compared to 2019. The second quarter is the most critical with demand falling 70% at its worst point, whilst airlines are burning through $61 billion in cash. Throughout the world, airlines are calling on governments to provide immediate financial aid to help airlines to remain viable businesses able to lead the recovery when the pandemic is contained.
Specifically, IATA calls for:
• Direct financial support
• Loans, loan guarantees and support for the corporate bond market
• Tax relief
Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO IATA. SOURCE IATA said: “There are no words to adequately describe the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the airline industry. whilst the economic pain will be shared by 25 million people who work in jobs dependent upon airlines. Airlines must be viable businesses so that they can lead the recovery when the pandemic is contained. A lifeline to the airlines now is critical.”
Looking ahead: re-booting the industry
Alongside vital financial relief, the industry will also need careful planning and coordination to ensure that airlines are ready when the pandemic is contained. “We have never shuttered the industry on this scale before. Consequently, we have no experience in starting it up. It will be complicated. At the practical level, we will need contingencies for licenses and certifications that have expired.
We will have to adapt operations and processes to avoid reinfections via imported cases and we must find a predictable and efficient approach to managing travel restrictions which need to be lifted before we can get back to work. These are just some of the major tasks that are ahead of us. To be successful, industry and government must be aligned and working together,” said de Juniac.
IATA is scoping a comprehensive approach to re-booting the industry when governments and public health authorities allow. A multi-stakeholder approach will be essential. One initial step is a series of virtual meetings (or summits) on a regional basis, bringing together governments and industry stakeholders.
The main objectives will be:
• Understanding what is needed to re-open closed borders
• Agreeing solutions that can be operationalised and scaled efficiently
“We are not expecting to re-start the same industry that we closed a few weeks ago. Airlines will still connect the world and we will do that through a variety of business models, but the industry processes will need to adapt. We must get on with this work quickly. We don’t want to repeat the mistakes made after 9.11 when many new processes were imposed in an uncoordinated way. We ended up with a mess of measures that we are still sorting out today. The 25 million people whose jobs are at risk by this crisis will depend on an efficient re-start of the industry,” said de Juniac.
During the 1960s, Boeing began to study the design of a short and medium-haul twin-jet aircraft to complete the larger Boeing 707 and 727 airliners. Its main competitors would be the BAC-111 and the DC-9. The design started in May 1964, with the objective to build an aircraft capable of transporting 60 passengers over a distance of 1,200 kilometres. In February 1965, Lufthansa ordered 22 of the future airliners, but asked for the capacity to be increased to 100 passengers. Boeing agreed to Lufthansa’s request and by the time the first prototype rolled out of the factory, in December 1966, the aircraft had grown larger.
The aircraft shared 60% of common parts with the Boeing 727 and was powered by the same engines, the Pratt & Whitney JT8D, with the difference that the two engines were placed under the wings and not on the tail, whilst the empennage, a classic fin, replaced the T-tail of the Boeing 727.
On 9 April 1967, the Boeing 737-100 registered N-73700 took off for its maiden flight at the King County International Airport (BFI), then known as Boeing Field, near Seattle. The flight lasted two and a half hours, before the aircraft landed at Paine Field (PAE), in Everett. In total, six prototypes of the Boeing 737-100 participated in the testing campaign. The first prototype would then be used by NASA for 30 years.
The 737-100 was certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in December of the same year after more than 1,300 hours of flight testing. As the launch customer the German airline Lufthansa, began commercial service on 10 February 1968, marking the beginning of a long family of aircraft. The -100 version saw only 30 planes being built. The longer version, the -200, was much preferred by airlines, with 1,114 aircraft delivered.