2020: A look at The Harshest Year in Aviation History — Omar Kaddouha
By: Omar Kaddouha
Tags: Health, Covid 19, Business, Omar Kaddouha, Life

According to Omar Kaddouha, an expert in aviation flight safety, the Coronavirus has affected the social, economic and political aspects of numerous countries worldwide.

Covid-19

The Covid-19 has in a significant way affected the aviation industry. Since March, most airlines have introduced travel restrictions to curb the spread of the deadly virus. Passenger numbers were limited and in some places, air travel was restricted.

The Aviation Industry

Among the first aviation industries to be hit hard by the Coronavirus crisis was the UK aviation sector.

The UK almost went into a complete lockdown from March, and the government advised citizens to cancel all unnecessary foreign trips. We were hit quite hard due to having open borders without quarantine measures for some part of the time.

The virus was spreading so fast, and globally, all countries went into lockdown. Some into partial lockdown, and for those most affected, they went into full lockdown.

The skies became empty all of a sudden; there was barely any air traffic. The only flights that were given an exception to fly were cargo and freight planes, planes ferrying emergency supply. And repatriation flights.

Nobody was travelling anymore, so the demand dipped to a shallow point. This also led to a decline in the market value of the airline business as well as the net profit margin for airliners.

Airliners were expected to have a loss of 84.3 billion this year but thus have exceeded expectations as many are not able to travel for the festive season. Passengers and crews were often left stranded for some time so for both passengers and airliners, this is definitely the worst year in the history of aviation.

With the crisis still ongoing, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), on November 24th, 2020, announced that losses posted from the airline industry all over the world would amount to about 97.52 Billion Euros. A further consolidated loss of 15.8 billion is expected in 2021.

Aircraft Manufacturers

Aircraft manufacturers are not safe either. Before the year closes, the manufacturers are set to finalise about 800 aeroplanes’ delivery. This is just half of the expected number of productions set when the year was starting.

According to IATA, 2021 will face delays in the delivery of aircraft. Numerous cancellations of orders are also expected due to the slow rise in the numbers of people willing to travel. This signifies a massive reduction in revenue and earnings acquired through the sale of aircraft.

Most aircraft manufactures and engine makers have cut on their productions and their workforce, some having no financial relief at all as there was no revenue coming through. Thus, more people working here have lost their jobs. Airbus, Bombardier, and Boeing are among the companies that have reduced production in their respective factories.

Job Losses

Another effect of Covid-19 on the airline industry is the massive job losses encountered. Many airlines have been out of operation, meaning a significant reduction in revenue and profits. This has led to continued laying off of the employees to reduce the operation costs.

With no people flying, there have been barely many people to attend to, resulting in some positions being declared redundant. Financially, 2020 has been poor.

The few pilots, cabin crew, and others who have managed to retain their jobs face salary reductions. Bloomberg indicates that about 400,000 airline workers’ livelihoods have been affected. Most have been fired, and others have been granted unpaid leave until when normal operations resume.

An estimation by IATA shows that by the end of 2020, the total number of employment positions offered by airlines will decline to 1.9 million.

Increase of Costs

Additional health and safety regulations put up to stop the spread of Covid-19 have resulted in increased operations costs by airlines. To keep their operations functional, airlines must meet all the health-related standards to ensure all people and personals are safe when travelling or within/outside the airport.

They should be able to cater for the costs of PPEs, face masks, hand sanitiser, temperature checks, conducting crucial tests when necessary, and effectively disinfecting all the areas accessed by passengers.

The Aviation Supply Chain

The supply chain was also affected by Covid-19. Most business people were unable to travel, meaning they could not access goods to trade. A dysfunctional aviation sector means that trade and big business deals are put at risk too.

In the UK, for instance, most trade imports get into the country through the passenger aircraft landing at Heathrow Airport. Generally, failure and more delay by passenger planes to start operations resulted in the cost of goods shooting up.

Conclusion

According to the financial outlook from the IATA, the global air transport industry showed that airlines revenues would fall by 50% to $838 billion to $419 billion in 2019. In 2021, losses are expected to be cut to $15.8 billion as revenues rise to $598 billion.

It’s not looking positive for the aviation industry but with vaccinations being readily available now, there is hope that people will start flying again once more.