Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

The plunge in oil and gas prices combined with restrictions and other ramifications surrounding the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has taken a sharp toll on the rotorcraft market and employment, but industry officials said some companies are still hiring and job seekers should still reach out to potential employers.

 


Helicopter Association International officials and executives from job advertising-based website JSFirm delved into the precipitous turnaround in the rotorcraft job market&nbsp;and overviewed job-seeking tools during their webinar “Employment During the COVID-19 Pandemic” on Thursday.

 


The webinar itself underscores&nbsp;Covid's harm to the industry, said HAI president and CEO James Viola, noting the number of attendees outstripped the previous two HAI webinars combined, the majority of whom are currently unemployed. “Regrettably, it’s because most rotorcraft businesses are experiencing considerable economic and operational disruptions,” Viola said.

 


He pointed to the forecasts of pilots and mechanics shortages in early January and added, “Now just three months later, we faced the complete opposition situation. This is just one example of how the pandemic has quickly affected our industry.”

 


In February 2020, the industry faced its largest shortage of available talent “of all time,” agreed JSFirm managing director Sam Scanlon.&nbsp;“We wake up this morning and think ‘what the hell happened?’” he said. Across all industries, U.S. unemployment has surged from 3 percent to 22 percent. An unprecedented 6.6 million came off the payrolls in one week alone, Scanlon said.

 


In the helicopter market, he added, “oil and gas pricing has had a massive impact in just short order.&nbsp;It affects the helicopter industry specifically,” he said, particularly operators and manufacturers of medium and heavy helicopters. Manufacturers worry about the price of oil&nbsp;dropping below $50 per barrel, let alone the negative number it recently reached, he said.

 


JSFirm, which last year formed a partnership with HAI to highlight rotorcraft jobs on an HAI webpage and its newsfeed, has seen 47 percent of its companies pull back their job advertisements, said executive director Abbey Hutter. At the same time though, the number of helicopter industry&nbsp;job seekers on the website has increased 11 percent and overall website traffic has jumped 32 percent.

 


Having said that, Scanlon believes the market will pick up and the talent shortage will return once the pandemic and associated restrictions ease. While nearly half of prospective employers have pulled their advertisements, some are still looking for workers. The recent CARES Act paycheck protection program and other relief provisions further offer hope, he said. “As we move through April and as we reach out, we are finding more and more positives,” Scanlon added.

 


Scanlon and Hutter agreed that companies are always looking for strong talent, and even though they might not be hiring, job seekers should still establish contacts with employers now to be in a stronger position when hiring resumes.&nbsp;Hutter outlined a number of tools that job seekers can use on the website, such as job searches and alerts, resumé management, and a skills section.

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

Covid Taking Toll on Rotorcraft Employment

An HAI webinar with JSFirm highlighted the job losses that has come from the Covid-19 crisis in the rotorcraft industry, but offered tools for job seekers.

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