Covid-19

It is no surprise that the airline industry has been hit hard by the plunge in passenger traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the industry losses recently reported are staggering by any measure. According to StockApps, a UK-based investment newsletter, year-to-date, “Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Lufthansa Group, United Airlines, Air France, and the […]

At this point in the year, it’s pretty widely known that pilot hiring at the airlines fell off a cliff during most of 2020 following the COVID-19 outbreak. Louis Smith said, “The 12 major US airlines combined hired only 98 pilots in September.” Smith is president of the Future and Active Pilot Advisors (FAPA). Aircraft […]

Strange times we are living in. When writing my last column, I wondered aloud if things could get any worse. (I turn in my column two months prior to publication.) As it turns out, they could—and for entirely different reasons than I imagined. In January, I moved to New Mexico to shoot a television show. […]

The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) announced earlier this week, “The industry’s efforts have succeeded in greatly reducing the possibility of transmission [of COVID-19] in airports and on aircraft.” Based on a six-month analysis, the foundation said, “The traveling public should have increased confidence that it’s safe to fly.” Dr. Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of […]

As the COVID-19 pandemic grinds on and more pilots are flying fewer hours, it is more important than ever to stay focused on safety. When the workload of flying single-pilot crashes head-on into the stresses of our personal lives, it is sometimes easy to push aviation safety away from top-of-the-mind. However, it is then that […]

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has released details of what the latest proposal for COVID-19 relief is expected to look like based on reports released Tuesday by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The skinny bill—as it’s being called—includes no fresh money for the Payroll Support Program for the airlines, that expire at the end […]

The DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase in DeLand, Florida, has pushed its planned event from November 2020 to January 2021 in light of ongoing concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The show positions itself as the first event on the 2021 calendar, for both sport aviation and general aviation in total. “We wanted, upon receiving word of […]

The Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots has inducted its new president, Corbi Bulluck, in a virtual ceremony at the 90-year-old organization’s annual convention in July. The convention was planned to take place in Long Beach, California, but the in-person event was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bullock takes over from Jan McKenzie, now […]

As infections from the COVID-19 virus continue to climb just about everywhere on Earth, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) last week shared some more unexpected news that’s affecting some US pilots traveling abroad through Hong Kong, which FedEx uses as a major hub. In a news release, ALPA said, “Recently, three COVID-19 positive asymptomatic […]

Wisconsin’s summer sky has ushered magic to Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh for decades. This year, July’s sky guided stifling blue afternoons, and furious purple thunderstorms; hot, damp nights and brisk, dewy mornings—but not the magic that floats from the sky on taut fabric wings or streaks through the air like lightning, visible briefly before […]