Changes in the aviation world not only aren’t slowing down—they’re speeding up!
The Air France-KLM pilot strike is one example. The pilots won, the airlines lost. The pilots argued—and won—against the two-tiered pay system allowing code-sharing commuters to pay pilots on a lower scale. The two-tiered system has spurred the growth of these airlines, and some wonder if that growth will be stifled without it. Aviation Week & Space Technology, reporting on September 29, 2914, called it a “Hollow Victory.”
Time will tell, I reckon.
Another possible big change was brought to my attention by AirInsight’s Weekly Review, October 12.
Oil prices just dropped rapidly to below $90/gallon, at least partially because 1) the U.S.A. is now the largest energy producer in the world, 2) Saudi Arabia broke ranks with OPEC, and 3) vehicles—including aircraft—continue to become more efficient.
That sounds great to me, but AirInsight went on to wonder if all of the efforts—at great cost—to make airliners more efficient will decrease if the price of oil continues to fall.
Damn! I hadn’t thought of that!
