General aviation starts its recovery after the COVID shutdown By Ian Sheppard

The aviation industry has been going through the worst crisis in its almost 120-year history since March, when COVID-19 spilled out of China and started affecting the rest of the world. At the lower end, general aviation was all but shut down but continued to play a vital role in essential missions such as air ambulance flights and transporting medical supplies.

While some smaller UK airfields and “aerodromes” closed completely, most closed partially but remained open only to emergency flights. Even the likes of London City Airport and the London Heliport closed, while airports such as Gatwick became “ghostports” as airlines grounded all or much of their fleets. This swiftly followed the lockdown on 23rd March and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s speech.

Fairoaks Airport, Surrey - one of the most popular GA and business airfields in the UK.

As well as being a massive hit for General Aviation airfields and all the other businesses they support, the lockdown hit flight training hard. Most took the so-called 2 metre “distancing” rule seriously - in that it wasn't something easily observed in a light aircraft cockpit. While the UK CAA only set out “guidance” rather than hard laws to support the COVID Regulations, this was enough to ground almost all schools.

With the commercial industry insisting that it needed some training and revalidation flights to continue, the Department for Transport (DfT) updated its guidance on 15th May to say commercial training could start again, with the usual COVID-19 precautions applied as best as training schools could.

At this point recreational flying was also given the green light as long as it was with members of the same household (or solo) and pilots were current. The DfT/CAA had been extremely agile at the onset of the crisis in extending all licence renewals and medicals until 22nd November, but the 90-day currency rule (three takeoffs and three landings within the prior 90 days) to carry passengers remained.

This has presented a problem for some as if not current, a private pilot can’t go up with an instructor but an alternative revalidation over the web was possible for those who had sufficient hours before the lockdown.

Flight training to resume in England this week

When in late June the DfT announced that flight training in England (not yet the rest of the UK) would be able to resume from 4th July (aptly “Independence Day” in the US) there was a collective sigh of relief that the end was approaching. Up until the last minute it seemed there was a possibility of a longer wait but the cries of financial pain from the industry and its association representatives probably proved enough.

So where are we now? It’s not going to be easy wearing masks and cleaning aircraft between students, among other things, and there is still a risk for those flying together. Perhaps at some point we will have rapid testing but one would hope that before that can happen, cases of COVID will become so rare there will be little to worry about. That along with test and trace and quarantine for travelers helping to ensure any new cases are quickly identified and isolated.

Demand for commercial pilots is going to be weak

There are two other important aspects of the crisis for the flight training sector. The first is that the airlines are laying off hundreds, if not thousands of pilots, so demand for commercial pilots could be weak for several years. The second is that those wanting to fund flying whether for commercial or private ends may be poorer, or less able to access finance. This is likely to weaken the General Aviation market and airfields and other sectors, such as aircraft maintenance and the manufacturers themselves, are likely to suffer.

Maintenance at Redhill Aerodrome (EGKR), Surrey.

The aviation associations are likely to see their memberships dwindle. Added to that we have lost the best part of 2020’s flying season, while with no air shows, fly-ins and other events the entire GA sector is pretty much hold until March 2021, when the new season kicks off.

What state the world and its economy will be in by then is hard to say. To end on a positive note, however, once youngsters get back into the full swing of education in September, they should probably rely on the aviation industry being fully back on its feet once they’ve done a few years of education and want a job as an engineer, pilot or numerous other roles that make up one of the most exciting industries on the planet.

The General Aviation Awareness Council (GAAC) which represents the interests of the general aviation industry in the UK to Parliament and Regulators, alongside the various aviation associations that make up its supporters - such as the LAA, AOPA, BGA, BMAA, BBGA, the Honorable Company of Air Pilots, The Air League, etc. All are determined to work hard for the sector and ensure everything possible is done to make aviation resilient again.

Ian Sheppard is based at Redhill Aerodrome, near London's Gatwick Airport, where he runs his own company, First Aerospace Media, Ian is a part-time flying instructor for Harvard Aviation, flying Piper PA-28s. He has worked for numerous aviation publications and edited Aerospace International, African Aerospace, Regional International and Aircraft Owner & Pilot (AOPA UK). For many years he was also international shows editor for Aviation International News. Currently, he has various projects (such as an Apollo Space Watch and a new airfield!) while also writing for GA Buyer Europe, sub-editing AvBuyer magazine, and acting as

communications adviser for the General Aviation Awareness Council (GAAC.) Recently, Ian has also started working with Hong-Kong based White Orchid Insights as their head of aviation. Ian has three (almost grown up) sons.

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 2nd July 2020 | Issue #564

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