Leveling the Global Aviation Playing Field

There are many challenges the US aviation industry has to face when trying to compete globally.  Several of these issues are discussed below.

1.                     Competition of foreign air carriers with an unfair advantage. Recently the three largest air carriers in the United States released a report stating that several of the three fastest growing air carriers in the Persian Gulf have been receiving illegal subsidies to the amount of $42 billion over the past decade.  This unfair advantage has allowed these airlines to grow substantially and compete when they would be losing money.  This puts stress on the domestic air carriers since they fear they will begin losing business to these carriers. 

While competition is nice in terms of making products and services cheaper for the consumer, it is bad when companies compete with an unfair advantage.  This will put stress on domestic air carriers and if left unchecked, can cost domestic jobs.  The domestic air carriers are suffering from this competition while the domestic aircraft manufacturer Boeing is making out since these foreign air carriers order a lot of their aircraft.  Despite this fact, the domestic air carriers must be heard and the illegal funding of their competing air carriers must cease if they are to maintain the ability to remain competitive in the international spectrum.

2.                     Another issue the U.S. aviation industry is faced with is the rapidly expanding foreign markets.  Many new markets are rising every day with some of the notable ones being Dubai, China, and Brazil.  These markets are quickly catching up to the United States and are very competitive.  These markets force the U.S. aviation oriented manufacturers to find new ways to compete with the constantly evolving global market.  From 2003 to 2013, domestic air carrier revenue from international markets increased 86% while revenue from domestic markets only increased 10%.  While these numbers are promising, the increase in competition will continue to push domestic companies to new ways to target international markets.

            This issue poses a large threat to the domestic aviation job market.  People in the aviation industry hear about the “pilot shortage” almost on a daily basis.  This issue is exacerbated by the rising competition from international air carriers.  The domestic major airlines are a great place to go as an airline pilot, however some find it a better option to go fly for a domestic carrier in Dubai or China where a pilot can make double or triple what they make as a pilot in the same aircraft in the United States.

3.                     Another issue that the U.S. aviation industry faces is in the attempt to get new products certified for use by the FAA.  This issue arises with the fact that companies need to have new products certified by the FAA in order to market them.  The FAA does not have enough resources to process all of these product certification requests in a timely manner.  This means that some business opportunities could be missed before the product can be certified.  This issue prevents the industry from growing at the pace it could. 

            This issue poses a great threat to the U.S. aviation industry when international markets are rising as quickly as they are.  It becomes clear why markets such as Dubai and China are growing so quickly when we struggle to continue moving forward.  This issue could be remedied if the FAA certification process could be streamlined.   I feel this is essential when the domestic market has to deal with all of the issues that are currently around.

References:

Aviation’s second golden age: Can the US aircraft industry maintain leadership? (2013, December). Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/Research/Other-Institute-Reports/~/media/D52A363E0D804DDBA5C76856DA9FA182.ashx

Bellamy III, W. (2013, December 12). US Aviation Industry Faces Global Challenges. Aviation Today.

Bunce, P. (2012, July 18). Hearing: The Global Competitiveness of the U.S. Aviation Industry: Addressing Competition Issues to Maintain U.S. Leadership in the Aerospace Market. Retrieved March 15, 2015, from http://www.gama.aero/node/11517

Commercial Aviation: Global Outlook, Opportunities, and Challenges. (2013, August 12). Retrieved March 14, 2015, from https://www.aiaa.org/Secondary.aspx?id=18317

Karp, G. (2015, March 5). U.S. airlines to Gulf carriers: 'Compete fairly' Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/ct-airline-subsidies-0306-biz-20150305-story.html