Question

Investigate the contemporary issues in:

1.   Airport Industry
2.   Airline Industry
3.   Aircraft Manufacturers
4.   Aviation Safety & Security
5.   Regulatory & Environmental Agencies

Answer 1

Contemporary issues faced by airport industry

1. Security

2. Accidents and safety

3. Convience and competitiveness

4. Financial issues

5. Sustainability

6. Fuel issues and overcapacity

Issues of airline industry

• The rupee depreciation is hitting carriers hard. About 25-30% of their costs, excluding fuel, are dollar denominated—from aircraft lease rents and maintenance costs to ground handling and parking charges abroad.
• Aviation turbine fuel(ATF)  prices constitute about 40% of costs for an Indian carrier and are taxed higher here than anywhere else in the world. The Centre charges 14% excise duty on ATF. The states pile on their own sales tax that can go as high as 29%.
• The intense competition among domestic carriers, the need to capture a slice of the ever expanding market and passenger price sensitivity makes the airlines difficult to raise ticket prices.
• The new civil aviation policy (NCAP) 2016’s regional connectivity scheme doesn’t help. The ticket price caps it imposes under the scheme, the fact that the viability gap funding will last only for three years and various operational issues such as the lack of slots for connecting flights at major airports are a hindrance.
• Rules such as route dispersal guidelines (RDG) that mandate airlines to fly a certain percentage of flights in smaller, unprofitable air routes is archaic in nature.
• The projected growth in capacity, because of plane orders, will lead to a 14% shortfall in commander pilots, a part of which will have to be fulfilled by more expensive expatriates, leading to a rise in the wage bill, the second biggest cost chunk after fuel. Issues of aircraft manufactures Key challenges that emerged from the workshop and that are discussed include understanding manufacturing trends; manufacturing globalization; information technology opportunities; maintaining innovation; strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises; workforce education; and rising infrastructure
• Issues of airline safety   
• Lithium batteries — This threat includes issues related to the safe carriage of lithium batteries as cargo on passenger and freighter aircraft, inside checked passenger baggage and among passengers’ carry-on effects.
• RPAS/UAS — This threat includes issues accompanying the safe integration into civilian airspace of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) — commonly referred to as “drones” and also called unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS).
• Infrastructure and capacity — Aviation growth, particularly in the Asia Pacific region, is in many ways outpacing the ability of regulators to maintain effective oversight and surveillance. Growth also has an impact on the availability of qualified labor.
• Lasers — Laser strikes are a concern around the world and a particular threat to pilots and aircraft operating at low altitudes.
• Cybersecurity — This issue involves a growing concern about the secure interconnectivity of airborne and ground-based systems.

Regulatory and enivornment issues

The other various environmental issues in aviation industry are- energy consumption, emissions, climate change, noise, fuel efficiency and emission control. Defined, or noise preferential routs (NPR) is a measure to mitigate noise pollution especially around airports.