O impacto da Covid-19 na carreira dos pilotos de avião no Brasil

Abstract

In times of crisis on the global air transportation sector caused by the new coronavirus pandemic, this study has as problematic the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aircraft pilots' career, especially in Brazil and in the airline segment. The main objective in this research is to discuss the problems encountered by these crew members in the current pandemic scenario and, as secondary objectives, to understand the pre-pandemic period, as well as the future prospects of this labor market. The study rellies on a descriptive nature research as a method, with documentary and bibliographic procedures. From the data collected, it was demonstrated that in order to become a professional, the would-be pilot must go through a long training process composed of several high financial cost phases and, even when ready from a technical point of view, it does not have guarantees concerning its immediate employability. On the other hand, the growth of the sector, that took place from 2010 to 2019, compensated for the efforts invested, since it was in a fast expansion, demanding more professionals. However, with the advent of the pandemic in early 2020, the airline industry experienced its biggest crisis ever, and companies saw their stocks fall and their flights decrease by up to 95%. In view of this, dismissals of crew members were carried out and Collective Bargaining Agreements were pactuated with the unions, in order to avoid the dismissal of more employees. In these Agreements, the pilots were forced to take unpaid leave, accept salary cuts (reductions of up to 80%) or even advance their pensions fearing losing their jobs. Dismissed commanders were looking for vacancies in other segments, such as executive aviation and air taxis or aerial ICUs – the portion of aviation that has grown due to its high utility during the pandemic. It was clear that the sector had to reinvent itself and create new opportunities, a situation experienced by smaller companies, which were able to absorb part of the demand for flights previously made by airlines. In addition, it was observed that, in relation to the international air market, mainly fostered by China and the United States, the labor input was associated with vaccination. As for the participation of governments in minimizing the aerial crisis, it was found that IATA considers it to be fundamental, especially in the implementation of security actions and measures to avoid layoffs. In this sense, both the Brazilian Federal Government and ANAC adopted positive initiatives: taxes reduction, granting special credit lines, debt maturities extention, among others, although there is still no national plan for returning to activities. Given this scenario, national companies themselves sought options to continue its operations (some of them for free), transporting cargo, supplies, vaccines and health professionals. In view of this, it appears that the airline industry was one of the most affected by the current health crisis and that the crew members were severely affected: despite the new job opportunities, these do not fill the huge gap caused by the layoffs. It turns out that an airline transport pilot (ATP) is an expensive labor to build and well paid when employed, but difficult to be relocated if dismissed in a scenario such as that of COVID-19. There are still uncertainties about its activity, considering that the full recovery of the sector depends on company strategies, government actions and mass vaccination.