The Falling Dollar And The Global BizAv Boom

At a summit organized by Canadian think tank Aero Montreal, Pratt & Whitney Canada made it known it is among those concerned that a falling dollar — plus strong local currency, rising fuel prices and environmental demands — is pushing cost-cutting methods for production (outsourcing). At the same time, those pressures are demanding investment in research for development of new “green” technology and materials. In short, amid a worldwide aviation boom that’s seen record orders for new aircraft, the fall of the American dollar is managing to make long-term viability challenging for companies — especially those that traditionally produce aerospace products in their own country and pay for labor in native currencies, but sell their products in American dollars. Pratt & Whitney Canada believes the aerospace labor force in Canada will see a need for 50,000 new workers over the next decade to keep up with a forecast demand in the aviation sector. But that bill may be a hard one to fill if that country’s employers seek to cut production costs by outsourcing jobs — Mexican workers can produce at roughly an 80-percent discount when compared with Canadian workers and Mexico has absorbed numerous jobs from U.S. aerospace workers in recent years. The solution to sustained viability, according to one summit attendee, is strong innovation backed by well-financed research and design programs supported by a well-trained labor pool. The road map for how to make that happen wasn’t tabled.