Flight International 2022 09.pdf

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FlightGlobal.com
September 2022
Top 100
F-35 sales keep
Lockheed Martin
out in front
Poland signs $3bn
FA-50 order
p30
Spirit backs JetBlue
purchase plan
p36
Dreamliner
delivers
787 on move again after lengthy hiatus
p8
9
£5.25
770015 371334
Boom time
Supersonic
start-up getting
there fast
p72
Watch out
Sky Warden
wins SOCOM
competition
p12
0 9
Comment
Baggage blues
Waking up
Although aviation is cheering the return of customer demand,
scaling business up again is proving harder than planned
I
n the deep sleep of the pandemic,
amid the deserted terminals and
wrecked travel plans, ranks of
parked aircraft and mothballed
production lines, few dared consid-
er the vast challenges the industry
would face when jolted from its
unwelcomed slumber.
Back then, we met with joy any
glimmer of recovery – a restored
route, relaxed travel rules, an air-
craft delivery. Now recovery has
arrived at pace and the industry
has been found wanting, with air-
ports unable to cope with pas-
senger numbers nor an aerospace
supply chain with orders.
Not all of that is the result of
the vigorous bounce-back from
Covid-19. The Ukraine crisis has
made critical shortages in raw
materials such as titanium worse.
The prospect of a Chinese block-
ade of Taiwan – the leading pro-
ducer of semiconductors – is add-
ing to the nervousness.
In recent days, London Heathrow
– one of the world’s busiest hubs –
has extended its 100,000 daily cap
on departing passenger numbers
to the end of October. An airport
that just last year was on its knees
because of restrictions on travel is
turning business away.
Meanwhile, aerospace compa-
nies – including the biggest engine
manufacturers – have warned of
missing delivery schedules be-
cause they cannot source parts on
time. Again, a sector stymied not
by lack of demand but by the sup-
ply chain’s inability to supply.
How did the industry get into
this mess – a state of affairs that
can no longer be blamed, not di-
rectly anyway, on Covid-19? Aside
from outliers such as China, most
countries have lifted the rules that
blighted air travel until early 2022
and most of us can fly freely once
more – at least in theory.
A lack of labour is key. Com-
panies that hurried to lay off or
furlough staff to save costs as rev-
enues dried up in the second quar-
ter of 2020 are finding that many
of these former employees are in
no rush to return to their old jobs.
Finding new ones to replace
them is not easy. Training baggage
handlers and machine operators, as
well as pilots and design engineers,
takes time. There are often security
clearances to be gone through. A
career in aviation or aerospace
engineering does not have the lure
it perhaps once did.
The industry must learn two
lessons from this. Neither will
solve the immediate problem,
but they should go at least some
way towards stopping a similar
scenario occurring in future.
The first is that aerospace and
aviation must do more to attract
young people and convince them
to commit to careers in an indus-
try that has few peers in push-
ing the boundaries of technology
and, in affording us long-distance
mobility, contributing to the sum
of human happiness.
The second is that – despite the
advance and appeal of automation
– people remain a crucial asset for
almost every business. Most em-
ployees have a loyalty to their com-
pany and a pride in their profession.
Businesses too eager to shed ex-
perienced employees in turbulent
times rapidly find out that upsizing
is a lot harder than downsizing.
◗
See p10
September 2022
Flight International
3
Maurizio Milanesio/Shutterstock
In focus
Shortages and delays hamper
737 Max ramp-up
6
787 deliveries take off again
8
Supply pain for big two
10
Sky Warden wins SOCOM
battle
12
C919 deliveries set to grow
21
Pelosi’s trip triggers China
24
Should US airlines increase
pilot retirement age?
26
First MC-21 gains Russian
engines
29
Warsaw signs FA-50 deal
30
Canadian probe flags culture
of skirting safety margins
33
Spirit U-turns on sale plan
36
Brazil seeks more Gripens
41
The business of revolution
42
72
Back to the future?
A new age of supersonic travel
12
26
Regulars
Comment
3
Best of the rest
52
Straight & Level
76
Letters
78
Jobs
81
Women in aviation
82
4
Flight International
September 2022
Contents
In depth
Top 100
56
Our annual listing of the largest
100 aerospace businesses
shows an industry in recovery
from Covid-19, with production
of commercial aircraft now
on the increase
Chain reaction
68
The good news is that the
commercial aviation industry
is rebounding fast from
Covid-19. The bad news is
that aerospace producers
are struggling to keep up
Fastest to the finish
72
Several firms are promising
a return to supersonic air
travel before the decade is
out. Sound is just one of the
barriers they need to break
to make their dream a reality
56
FlightGlobal.com
September 2022
Top 100
F-35 sales keep
Lockheed Martin
out in front
Poland signs $3bn
FA-50 order
p30
Spirit backs JetBlue
purchase plan
p36
AirTeamImages
Dreamliner
delivers
787 on move again after lengthy hiatus
p8
9
£5.25
770015 371334
Boom time
Supersonic
start-up getting
there fast
p72
Watch out
Sky Warden
wins SOCOM
competition
p12
0 9
68
30
September 2022
Flight International
5

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