Pilots Blog

New Decade, New Horizons

The noughties are gone and so to a new decade and possibly a new world order.

Many years ago I did my training and flying in Northern California and as a Brit I was immensely impressed by the American "can do" approach to most problems and my lasting impression from those years was the adaptability and ingenuity of those I worked with - there was no problem that could not be solved. The US has undeniably led the world in aviation technology and problem solving and continues to do so, but as I travel the world these days I see significant evidence that new markets are emerging and will increasingly challenge US dominance of aviation and aerospace. China and India are the obvious pretenders to the throne and their work ethic is phenomenal, but there are other emerging markets in the Middle East, Brazil, Central and Eastern Europe which are beginning to have an impact. The emerging markets are now producing well educated and ambitious graduates, with language and numeracy skills well ahead of many kids in the established Western economies.

As the decade progresses I expect to see aeronautical engineering and aviation innovation becoming more commonplace outside the traditional centres in the US and Europe. The real opportunity for established aviation businesses will be in terms of how they embrace these new markets.