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

Preparing for what it believes could be an extended crisis from the Covid-19 outbreak, CAE is laying off workers, cutting salaries throughout the company, curbing hours, and restricting research and development and other capital investment.

 


The company on Friday issued its initial notifications of temporary layoffs to 465 employees, but CAE president and CEO Marc Parent said during a call with RBC Capital Markets Monday morning that more will be evaluated and issued in the “coming days.” In addition, the senior leadership is taking a 50 percent pay cut, while vice presidents will see salaries reduced by 30 percent. Managers and directors will receive 20 percent cuts, while all others will see their salaries reduced by 10 percent. The company has more than 10,000 employees worldwide in over 35 countries.

 


In addition, the company said it has reduced capital expenditures to “minimum levels,” reduced operating hours and adjusted staffing at centers with lower demand and asked all employees that can work from home to do so.

 


Parent stressed that the company is entering the crisis in a position of liquidity strength, but said, “This crisis of unprecedented speed and magnitude has caused pretty dramatic disruptions to the global transportation system…We’re assuming a very tough period ahead.”

 


While he added “we definitely believe it will be temporary,” how long is uncertain. “This is significantly worse than anything we have seen.”

 


Its training centers are facing lower demand and varying closures. The situation remains fluid, said&nbsp;Andrew Arnovitz, CAE v-p of strategy and investor relations, pointing to closures at its centers in Peru, the Philippines, Brussels, and Milan. Others have reopened. “Asia is generally opening up,” said Arnovitz. In fact, Parent said he was encouraged by orders received just last week for simulators from China and Singapore.

 


A major issue, Parent added, is the ability for trainees to get to the centers&nbsp;in the face of travel restrictions. Business aviation centers are all running, albeit with lower volume focused on recurrent training.

 


On the training front, CAE has somewhat of a buffer since training is a regulatory requirement, he said. In addition, CAE has healthy backlogs for the simulators it builds. Since orders come with substantial upfront deposits that fund the build, CAE doesn’t typically see cancellations, Parent said. A few customers have asked for delays in taking delivery, however.

 


“We’re planning for a severe impact that could run for a number of quarters,” said CFO Sonya Branco, but added, “I am confident that CAE has the tools and the ability to weather the storm and resume growth once the episode is behind us.”

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

CAE Issuing Temp Layoffs, Cutting Salaries

CAE executives, expecting the Covid-19 crises to last for some time, are taking a series of measures to prepare, from layoffs to lower investments.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

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