As the globe enters unprecedented times during the Covid-19 crisis, the rapid plunge of aircraft operations has been “swift and dramatic,” aviation data provider Argus said. Recovery in business aviation operations will be predicated on how swiftly top business aviation markets such as Texas, Florida, and Georgia can rebound following the peak of the crisis, Argus added.
The Coronavirus impact on the aviation Industry
Apr 3, 2020 - 9:44 AM
Dublin-based leasing company Avolon has canceled an order for 75 Boeing 737 Max jets scheduled for delivery from 2020 to 2023, the lessor said early last month, dealing another blow to the U.S. aerospace giant’s troubled narrowbody program. Avolon, which hadn’t yet placed any of the airplanes with operators, also said it had rescheduled delivery of another 16 Max jets to 2024 or later.
Apr 3, 2020 - 8:50 AM
Helijet is offering free flights to medical professionals traveling on business between Vancouver and its Vancouver Island terminals in Victoria and Nanaimo beginning Monday (April 6) for at least 30 days. Helijet is the world’s largest helicopter airline operating a fleet of 17 aircraft with regularly scheduled passenger service. “We’ve been providing downtown-to-downtown scheduled air service for 34 years and we know that right now, every minute counts,” explained Danny Sitnam, president and CEO of Helijet International.
Apr 3, 2020 - 7:57 AM
With the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on business aviation having reached every part of the world, this week has seen a concerted effort by the industry to demonstrate a positive response to an irrefutably negative situation. The latest data from respected analysts confirmed that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on business aviation is completely global. On April 2, WingX reported that traffic levels worldwide were 30 percent down in March compared with the same month in 2019.
Apr 3, 2020 - 5:04 AM
Boeing is suspending operations at its military rotorcraft assembly plant in Ridley Township, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia effective today “in light of the company's continuous assessment of the spread of Covid-19 in the region,” the company said in a statement on Thursday. The facility employs 4,600 and is responsible for production of the Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor fuselage, the CH-47 Chinook tandem-rotor aircraft, and outfitting of the USAF MH-139A Grey Wolf from Leonardo.
Apr 2, 2020 - 11:49 PM
It seems we have found ourselves today as an industry in a position that can only be considered reactive with respect to pricing of preowned business aircraft. We must be very careful not to consider it a new norm for valuations of aircraft, but rather a symptom of the current Covid-19 crisis.
I have had a fair share of brokers calling me to say, “I hear you will take X for the plane you have for sale.” In many or most cases the numbers they are saying are absolutely not correct.
We should not react to the pandemic as a guide to the value of aircraft. As is always the case in a rapidly changing environment, we must let the reality of the situation evolve before we start moving in any direction with respect to pricing of aircraft.
Might our industry look different or at the very least a bit streamlined? Perhaps. Might the value of the asset take a short-term hit with respect to value? Maybe. There are too many variables today to begin to provide what will be a new demand for aircraft as we come out of this. But we will come out and clarity will be critical.
Apr 2, 2020 - 4:40 PM
The ongoing effects of the global pandemic led GE Aviation to announce today that it will furlough half of its U.S. engine assembly and some component manufacturing workers for four weeks. The furloughs are in addition to last week’s announcement in which it planned to cut 10 percent of its workforce and furlough 50 percent of its MRO staff for 90 days.
Apr 2, 2020 - 3:35 PM
The FAA is continuing to push out more exemptions, deviations, and legal opinions to enable the aviation industry to continue to operate during the Covid-19 crisis. These come as the agency has received numerous requests from most corners of the industry facing deadlines in the next several months pertaining to their certifications, but unable to meet them. “The FAA is proactively taking steps to help address the widespread economic and health effects that the Covid-19 pandemic is having on the aviation industry,” the agency reassured.
Apr 2, 2020 - 2:07 PM
British Airways on Thursday reached an agreement with trade unions GMB and Unite to furlough more than 30,000 cabin crew and ground-based employees in April and May under the terms of a “modified” version of the UK’s Covid-19 Job Retention Scheme. Under the program, furloughed employees will receive 80 percent of their base pay and “certain allowances.” The agreement remains subject to union ratification.
Apr 2, 2020 - 12:24 PM
There is a growing glut of jet-A as air traffic markedly declines globally due to the Covid-19 crisis. In fact, the fuel market is seeing its lowest demand for jet-A since the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.
