While the airline industry recovers from the drastic collapse in demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines and airports worldwide are struggling to cope with the sudden uptick in demand triggered by the removal of many restrictions on international mobility. As the first “normal” summer in three years approaches its…
The Spanish Airline Pilots Union (Sindicato Español de Pilotos de Líneas Aéreas – SEPLA) began on Friday, the first of three 72-hour strike periods called for August. The measure will run until next Sunday, while other days of protest will take place on 19, 20, 21, 27, 28 and 29…
This week, Emirates Airline confirmed that it will hire new first officers «who meet the airline’s standards in safety, technical prowess and customer experience», it said in a statement. The new pilots will be based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the airline’s main hub. Emirates stressed that the new first…
Israeli flag carrier El Al has announced it reached an agreement with its pilots to restore salaries to pre-COVID-19 levels in an effort to cancel fewer flights. The airline agreed that such salaries will be in effect by the start of 2023 and would remain until the contract expires in…
SAS — Scandinavia’s largest airline — now stares directly in the face of collapse, following disputes over wages with its pilot union on Monday. Talks came to a halt, initiating a strike that is likely to cause havoc in the European skies for the coming months. According to the airline,…
Spanish airline Iberia announced on Monday that it will recruit the first batch of pilots since the beginning of the pandemic. In July, it will add 20 first officers who will also become the first pilots coming from the Iberia Cadetes program, which the company launched in 2019. The increase…
Alaska Airlines’ summer scheduling woes continued as the airline was forced to cancel additional flights due to poor planning and staffing shortages. “Of the 1,200 flights that we operate every day, we’ve been canceling about 50 of them, roughly 4%," Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Miniucci wrote in a message to…
As travelers return to the skies, following the suppression of demand from the Covid-19 pandemic, airlines are facing a familiar challenge, a pilot shortage. Before the pandemic, airlines were already facing a wave of pilot retirements in the coming years. More stringent requirements for certification have slowed down the number…
The airline industry has been worrying for many years about a possible upcoming shortage of pilots to fly all the aircraft needed to cover the networks of all carriers. With all the “baby boomers” approaching their retirement age, it was feared that there would not be enough new pilots to…
