Scheduled US passenger airlines cut almost 37,000 jobs in the one-month period ending mid-October, bringing that sector’s employment to the lowest level in at least 30 years, US government data shows. Those cuts followed the expiration in at the end of September of US government aid that had specifically funded US airlines’ payrolls. In mid-October, 22 US carriers employed 368,162 full-time staff, down 9% from 404,869 in the middle of September, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) says on 11 December. Airlines have not employed so few people in any month since the DOT started reporting the figure in January 1990. The sector’s mid-October employment figure was down 19% - or about 86,000 jobs – from the 454,070 full-time workers employed by airlines one year earlier. The majority of the September-October cuts came from four US network carriers, which employ the most of the group and which collectively slashed 32,000 jobs in the period. Low-cost carriers eliminated only about 1,400 jobs in the one-month period, while US regional airlines cut 3,100 jobs, DOT data shows. The government’s pandemic-relief law, passed in March, made $29 billion available for airlines to pay staff salaries and benefits. That aid expired after 30 September.

European safety regulators have refused to lift an operational ban on Pakistan International Airlines imposed at the end of June. While the airline does not feature on the European Commission’s blacklist of banned carriers – which was revised on 2 December – it has not been reinstated on the list of third-country operators approved by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. EASA imposed the sanction following preliminary findings over the fatal loss of a PIA Airbus A320 at Karachi and the revelation, around the same time, that a high number of pilot licences issued by the Pakistani civil aviation authority were obtained fraudulently. The licensing concerns and the “lack of effective implementation” of a safety-management system led EASA to suspend PIA’s approval, states documentation associated with the Commission’s blacklist revision. Third-country authorisation was also suspended for Pakistani Boeing 737 operator Vision Air. The Commission has consulted with the country’s civil aviation authority since the suspension, requesting information on its oversight of carriers and the personnel licensing situation – seeking evidence that similar doubts over licence validity are not present in the cabin crew or maintenance sectors. Technical meetings were held with the civil aviation authority on 9 July and 25 September, and the Commission says the authority has been “co-operative and transparent”. Examination of the situation ultimately led to the revocation or suspension of the fraudulent licences, the Pakistani authority has told the Commission, as well as the decision to stop issuing new licences from the end of June 2020. “They also informed us that new aviation rules had been put in place to deal with the issues raised and, where appropriate, enforcement actions had been taken,” says the Commission. But with regard to safety-management system oversight, the civil aviation authority has acknowledged that implementation is still at an early stage. “It appears that the authority still needs to effectively identify the root causes of its problems, and to deal with them in a sustainable manner,” says the Commission. While the Commission believes the Pakistani authority is “engaged in a significant effort” to take the corrective actions necessary to address safety concerns, PIA’s third-country approval remains suspended. European regulators plan to conduct an on-site assessment visit to Pakistan. PIA’s permission to operate to the UK is also suspended, as a result of the EASA decision, a consequence of the UK’s still being in a transition period following its departure from the European Union.

A top US pilot union wants to ensure pilots can get jabbed with the Covid-19 vaccine – and not lose their medical certificates. The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is urging the Federal Aviation Administration to approve the vaccine for use by flight crews, and to ensure pilots get priority vaccine access. “Airline pilots are required to maintain medical certification from the FAA, but approval for use of the vaccine is required by the agency before it can be administered to flight crews,” ALPA says in a 9 December letter to US senators. “It is essential that the FAA approve this vaccine for use by airline pilots as soon as possible following” the vaccine’s approval by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). An FDA decision on whether to approve Pfizer’s vaccine is viewed as imminent. The UK government has already approved the vaccine. ALPA sent the letter to members of the Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation, which held a 10 December hearing about distributing the Covid vaccine. The union says pilots of cargo aircraft “have experienced an alarming increase in Covid-19 exposure and infections”. “It is critical that, following the initial distribution, airline pilots are provided priority access to the vaccine,” ALPA says. “Ensuring this prioritisation will allow the logistical component of transporting the vaccine to continue unencumbered.” ALPA has for weeks been working “to expedite the FAA’s approval of upcoming vaccines for flight crews”, it adds. The FAA says it “is closely monitoring the active vaccine trials and awaiting the outcome” of vaccine-related hearings currently underway by an FDA advisory panel. “While the agency has made no final decisions, we are prepared to evaluate the use of each vaccine by medical certificate holders as soon as an emergency-use authorisation is issued,” the FAA says. The agency “historically” does not approve vaccines or medications for pilots for at least one year after approval by the FDA. “However, given the nature of the current public health emergency, the FAA’s Office of Aerospace Medicine will expedite its review of the emergency-use authorisations for the vaccines,” the FAA says.