2022.04.26 飞行员短缺将使美国的航空公司受到冲击

shiyi18

Daily chart
Pilot shortages will buffet America’s airlines
The lack of staff makes it harder to keep up with rebounding demand
Apr 26th 2022


Imagine booking a flight from San Francisco, California to Atlantic City, New Jersey. But instead of landing ten miles (16 km) from the coastal resort, the plane touches down some 60 miles inland, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The remainder of the journey must be completed by bus. That is the solution that American Airlines, the country’s largest carrier, will put in place from June to overcome a shortage of pilots.

The number of airline pilots in America peaked at 84,520 in 2019, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS). But at the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, many of them took early retirement or voluntary redundancy. The number of pilots employed has dropped by 4% since that pre-pandemic peak. American Airlines has said that one-third of its 15,000 pilots will retire within the next seven years (pilots are obliged to do so at the age of 65). Largely because of these departures, the BLS expects that America will need 14,500 new pilots every year over the next decade. Data from the Federal Aviation Administration, the industry’s national regulator, show that half of all pilots licensed to fly for airlines are within 15 years of retirement age.


The staff shortage is hampering airlines’ ability to match demand. As the pandemic recedes, passenger numbers are at last rebounding. The number of travellers passing through airport security is now close to its level in 2019. In the seven days to April 24th, 14.5m people were checked at security, just 11% fewer than in the corresponding week three years before. Airline ticket sales are just 15% lower than in 2019, according to the Airlines Reporting Corporation, a data provider.

Still, lucrative corporate bookings are yet to take off: sales remain one-third lower. The turbulent price of jet fuel is also depressing company earnings. And employment costs have risen in response to staff shortages. The annual salary of the average airline pilot in America is up by 30% compared with five years ago, to $200,000. It is now America’s highest-paid profession after medicine. It is also the most distinctly male and white job outside logging: nine in ten pilots are white men. In hiring too, airlines would do well to spread their wings.



每日图表
飞行员短缺将使美国的航空公司受到冲击
人员的缺乏使其更难跟上回升的需求
2022年4月26日


想象一下，预订从加利福尼亚的旧金山到新泽西州的大西洋城的航班。但是，飞机并没有在距离沿海度假区10英里（16公里）的地方降落，而是在内陆约60英里处的宾夕法尼亚州的费城降落。余下的旅程必须通过巴士完成。这就是美国最大的航空公司--美国航空公司将从6月开始实施的解决方案，以克服飞行员短缺的问题。

根据劳工统计局（BLS）的数据，美国的航空公司飞行员数量在2019年达到了84520人的高峰。但在covid-19大流行病发生时，他们中的许多人提前退休或自愿裁员。自大流行前的那个高峰期以来，聘用的飞行员人数下降了4%。美国航空公司表示，其15000名飞行员中有三分之一将在未来七年内退休（飞行员在65岁时必须退休）。主要是由于这些人的离开，BLS预计美国在未来十年将每年需要14500名新飞行员。联邦航空管理局（该行业的国家监管机构）的数据显示，所有获准为航空公司飞行的飞行员中，有一半离退休年龄不到15年。


人员短缺阻碍了航空公司满足需求的能力。随着大流行病的消退，乘客人数终于出现了反弹。现在，通过机场安检的旅客人数已接近2019年的水平。在截至4月24日的七天里，有1450万人接受了安检，仅比三年前的相应一周少11%。根据数据供应商航空公司报告公司的数据，机票销售仅比2019年低15%。

尽管如此，利润丰厚的企业订票仍未起飞：销售额仍降低三分之一。飞机燃料价格的动荡也在压制公司的收益。而就业成本也因人员短缺而上升。美国航空公司飞行员的平均年薪与五年前相比增加了30%，达到20万美元。它现在是美国继医学之后收入最高的职业。它也是伐木业以外最明显的男性和白人工作：十名飞行员中有九名是白人男子。在招聘方面，航空公司也会很好地展开他们的翅膀。