GA in China

This week’s topic of discussion is General Aviation in China. Earlier this year there were talks between Hawker Beechcraft and a Chinese company called Superior Aviation Beijing Co. Unfortunately last Thursday the 18th Hawker Beechcraft CEO Steve Miller announced, "Despite our best efforts, the proposed transaction with Superior could not be completed on terms acceptable to the company." However, Cessna is producing its 162 in China by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (government owned). By doing this Cessna is saving approximately $71,000 in production costs which equals about 40% of the total cost.

According to export.com the reason for such rapid growth in China’s General Aviation is due to the demand for aerial work, private sector involvement, and civil aviation development and growth. A more obvious reason for the increase in GA is the population of China has been growing at an extremely fast pace.

If the General Aviation industry in China is growing at such a fast pace what does this mean for the United States. This means that there will be plenty of jobs available for the people that are willing to move. However, the people that manufacture the aircraft will be losing jobs due to the fact that China can get the same job done for a lot cheaper than what the United States can.

The Regional Airlines

Comair Airlines is a regional air carrier that was owned and operated by Delta Airlines from 1999 until September 29^th, 2012. Looking back before Delta bought the airline; Comair was established in March of 1977 by Patrick J. Sowers, Robert T. Tranter, David and Raymond Mueller. The company started with just two Piper Navajo aircraft. Comair’s headquarters was at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. Don Bornhorst, Senior VP of Delta Connection said “Delta plans on reducing their total number of regional jets from nearly 350 aircraft to 125 or fewer in the upcoming years. As a result of this reduction and changes to its customer-focused business strategy, Delta has made the difficult decision to cease Comair's operations." For the full memo regarding Comair’s cease in operations clickhere.

Looking at the airlines as a whole including the major airlines and regionals they both have been filled with mergers and closers. However, I feel that the current structure between both regional and major airlines is sufficient. If the majors were to change their use of regional carriers I would foresee a lot more of them following in Comair’s footsteps and closing down for good. Both types of carriers feed of each other regionals providing the short routes and the majors providing the intercontinental flights.

According to Pilotjobs.com SkyWest Airlines is hiring below is their qualifications and pay per hour.

Qualifications

	Minimum		Competitive		Preferred
Total Time	1200		1500
Last 6 Months:	0		200
	PIC	SIC	PIC	SIC
Multi Time:	100	0	200	0
Turboprop Time:	0	0	100	0
Jet Time:	0	0	20	0
Certificate	Commercial		ATP		ATP
CFIIME			Yes		Yes
ATP Written			Yes		Yes
Regional Jet Standards Certification	No		Yes		Yes
Education	No College Required		4-Year Degree		4-Year Degree
Age:	22

 

Pay Schedule

Pay Determination	Hourly
Aircraft & Notes	Guaranteed Pay Hours	Seniority	First Officer	Captain
CRJ 900 Per Diem : $1.70/hr	72 Line 75 Reserve	1 Year	$22.00/hr.	$63.00/hr.
		2 Years	$39.00/hr.	$66.00/hr.
		3 Years	$41.00/hr.	$69.00/hr.
		4 Years	$43.00/hr.	$71.00/hr.
		5 Years	$44.00/hr.	$73.00/hr.
CRJ-200 Per Diem : $1.70/hr	72 Line 75 Reserve	1 Year	$22.00/hr.	$59.00/hr.
		2 Years	$36.00/hr.	$61.00/hr.
		3 Years	$38.00/hr.	$64.00/hr.
		4 Years	$39.00/hr.	$66.00/hr.
		5 Years	$41.00/hr.	$68.00/hr.
CRJ-700 Per Diem : $1.70/hr	72 Line 75 Reserve	1 Year	$22.00/hr.	$62.00/hr.
		2 Years	$38.00/hr.	$65.00/hr.
		3 Years	$41.00/hr.	$68.00/hr.
		4 Years	$42.00/hr.	$70.00/hr.
		5 Years	$43.00/hr.	$72.00/hr.
Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia Per Diem : $1.70/hr	80 Line 75 Reserve	1 Year	$22.00/hr.	$47.00/hr.
		2 Years	$31.00/hr.	$49.00/hr.
		3 Years	$32.00/hr.	$50.00/hr.
		4 Years	$33.00/hr.	$52.00/hr.
		5 Years	$34.00/hr.	$53.00/hr.