Coronavirus: a third of airline pilots still not flying as pandemic drags on; Malaysia’s new cases top 5,000 as Omicron spreads
- The Asia-Pacific region is the worst-hit globally by a drop in international travel due to tough border restriction
- Elsewhere, Malaysia reported 5,439 new infections on Thursday, the most since December 9
More than one-third of airline pilots are still not flying as the pandemic continues to take its toll on aviation globally, according to a new survey, though the situation has improved from a year earlier when the majority were grounded.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the worst-hit globally by a drop in international travel due to tough border restrictions, the proportion of those unemployed rose from 23 per cent to 25 per cent. The region also had the lowest number that were employed flying at 53 per cent.
“We have … seen some expatriates return home from the region due to concerns over quarantine or being stuck for long periods away from friends and family,” the report on the survey said.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways, a large expatriate employer in Asia, has lost hundreds of pilots through the closure of its Cathay Dragon regional arm as well as almost all of its overseas bases during the pandemic.
Pilot attrition at Cathay has also been rising amid strict layover rules that leave crew members locked in hotels when they are not flying.
Of the pilots still flying globally, 61 per cent told the survey they were concerned about their job security.
“It appears only Northern America is back to post-Covid passenger numbers,” said an unnamed captain flying in the Middle East and Africa. “The rest of the world, especially developing nations, are still struggling to get vaccines, and are still not travelling.”