SINGAPORE, Oct 18 : The forecast a year ago was for the Asia-Pacific to continue to benefit from an aviation boom.Aircraft manufacturer Boeing projected that the region would need an additional 266,000 pilots over the next 20 years.
Singapore's Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung has said that the global aviation industry will take at least two years to recover from the pandemic. The pilot, who did not want to be named, did not disclose his salary, but pilots in the Philippines typically earn about 200,000 pesos a month. Those let go received severance pay totalling two to three months of their salaries, said Air Line Pilots' Association of Japan secretary-general Yuji Ushikusa.
Most South Korean airlines were able to stave off further job losses because of the government's job retention subsidy scheme. Aviation regulations require pilots to make at least three take-offs and touchdowns in 90 days, either in flight simulators or on planes. A steward, who declined to be named, said:"I was on standby but that didn't fly, so now I'm waiting to see if I still have a job." When asked about his backup plans, he added:"Honestly, no plans yet. Too stressed to think ."As international travel is still limited due to border closures and with many countries requiring arrivals to undergo 14-day quarantines, airlines are falling back on domestic demand.
Things are also looking up for India's domestic market after the government gradually eased a stringent lockdown, allowing domestic flights to resume in May although capped at 60 per cent from pre-Covid-19 days. This was the highest figure since Feb 28 - before the worst of Covid-19 hit Japan and flights started getting cancelled.Kotaro Kuzawa, chief of passenger services at ANA, told broadcaster NHK:"This is the first time it has been so congested since the Covid-19 crisis."