The return of staff confidence is of paramount importance for the aviation industry as it climbs out of the crisis caused by the global coronavirus pandemic, according to a leading consultant.
After a year filled with lockdowns, curfews and border closures, implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19, international travel is expected to ramp up in 2021 as restrictions eventually ease with the introduction of widespread vaccination programmes.
However, Linus Bauer, founder and managing director of Bauer Aviation Advisory, told Arabian Business that while consumer confidence is vital for the industry’s recovery, arguably of more importance right now as the sector rebuilds, is to regain the confidence of a beleaguered workforce.
He said: “People keep talking about customer confidence, but they’ve been forgetting about their own people. Employees are the face of the company, facing the people, not the CEO or the management, we’re talking about the cabin crew and the ground staff, they are the people facing the customer.”
According to a report from the Air Transport Action Group, issued last October, 1.7 million Middle East jobs were expected to be lost in aviation and industries supported by aviation in 2020, while 323,000 jobs were forecast to be lost in aviation alone last year.
Major airlines across the region experienced some form of staff reduction, including UAE giants Etihad Airways and Emirates Airline, with redundancies, reduction in hours and unpaid leave all implemented over the course of the pandemic.
A report in July last year quoted Emirates president Sir Tim Clark as saying the carrier had cut a tenth of its workforce during the coronavirus crisis in layoffs that could rise to 15 percent, or 9,000 jobs.
Emphasising the importance of staff morale, Bauer said: “These people have to make a contribution to restore the confidence back to the customer that they are facing or maybe up in the air. You have to start with these people first to spread the optimism and rebuild their confidence in their job, in their outlook because a lot of people still have a job, but they have a very high degree of uncertainty – do I have a job tomorrow? Or next week? Or next year?
“These things have to be sorted out first, then you can start with the other steps, in terms of bringing confidence back to the entire aviation industry.”
Emirates Airline is poised to capitalise on post-pandemic flight trends
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) previously said full-year 2020 passenger numbers in the Middle East were forecast to reach only 30 percent of 2019 levels, down significantly from the 45 percent that was projected in July.
In absolute numbers, the Middle East was expected to see 60 million travellers in 2020 compared to the 203 million in 2019. And while the situation was predicted to improve this year, IATA said airlines would still be hit with a combined loss of $38.6 billion, worse than its previous estimate of $15.8bn.
Bauer, pictured below. said that a full recovery in the industry would not be seen until 2024 and stressed that the current period should be used as an opportunity to reshape it.
“Right now is the time to reboot the industry in order to make the recovery happen from 2022 onwards and maintain a strong rebound from 2024,” he said.
Linus Bauer, founder and managing director of Bauer Aviation Advisory
“The time when we reach pre-Covid levels is still very difficult to estimate because when we’re looking back at the past eight months we’ve had so many forecasts from consultants, from governments and civil aviation authorities.
“That is not the right way to focus now. We should focus on every single step now and not make big jumps. The big focus for me, for the company and the entire industry, with the support of the stakeholders in aviation, to rebuild the industry this year and not later,” he added.
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