Airlines need to be properly rewarded, says IATA chief amid supply chain woes
Bangkok (PTI): With supply chain woes continuing to impact aircraft deliveries, IATA chief Willie Walsh on Saturday said airlines need to be properly rewarded as he flagged concerns about talks of original equipment manufacturers planning to increase prices due to tariffs and other issues.
The International Airport Transport Association (IATA) represents nearly 350 airlines that account for around 85 per cent of the global air traffic.
Speaking at the 69th Assembly of Presidents of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) here, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said there was huge frustration that the supply chain issues are not getting much better.
While airlines are a low margin industry, he said the margins of OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) are high.
Taking examples, Walsh said engine makers are actually improving their financial performance during a period of massive disruption which has added massive costs to the airline industry.
Walsh pointed out that it is bothering when he hears suppliers talking about that they want to increase prices because of tariffs and other supply chain issues.
"There's got to be a correction to this. Airlines need to be properly rewarded. I don't object to anybody making profits....
"But we've got to see a greater balance and we need to see these critical suppliers raising their game and raising their game significantly to ensure that they're serving the industry in the way that we need to be served," he said.
The global aviation industry has been grappling with supply chain issues, especially after the pandemic, resulting in delayed aircraft deliveries even as airlines are looking to expand their fleets to meet rising passenger traffic demand.
At the Assembly, AAPA Director General Subhas Menon said tariffs will impact the nascent recovery of the supply chain and also increase non-fuel cost for the airlines.
"Supply chain recovery is now undermined by tariffs which increase supplier costs. While aircraft and engines are exempt, their raw materials, and components which come from many parts of the world, are not.
"Tariffs also affect demand through inflation. It is a double whammy as both supply, and demand sides of the market are affected," Menon said even as he added that air transport demand is buoyant.
Mentioning about sustainability, Menon emphasised that taxing airlines directly or indirectly through mandates has not worked and that Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production remains low.
A study, done by IATA in collaboration with consulting firm Oliver Wyman, said supply chain challenges are estimated to cost more than USD 11 billion for the global airlines industry in 2025.
The worldwide commercial aircraft backlog was more than 17,000 aircraft last year, higher than 2010-2019 period when the backlog stood at 13,000 planes per year.
The slow pace of production is projected to cost the airlines industry over USD 11 billion this year, mainly due to excess fuel, additional maintenance, increased engine leasing and surplus inventory holding costs, as per the study released in October.
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Texas halts H-1B visas at state universities, agencies; to affect Indians
Houston (US) (PTI): Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions, a step likely to impact Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in effect through May 2027.
The directive issued on Tuesday said that the state agencies and public universities must stop filing new petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The governor's order, in a red state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the visa programme.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbot said.
Institutions must also report on H-1B usage, including numbers, job roles, countries of origin, and visa expiry dates, the letter said.
US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricted the entry into the US of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H1-B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, i.e. all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the USCIS. Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare, and technology fields.
Date from Open Doors -- a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the US -- for 2022-2023 showed 2,70,000 students from India embarked on graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities, accounting for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
Indian students infuse roughly USD 10 billion annually into universities and related businesses across the country through tuition and other expenses – while also creating around 93,000 jobs, according to the Open Doors data.
Analysts warn the freeze could slow recruitment of highly skilled professionals, affecting academic research and innovation.
Supporters say the directive protects local jobs, while critics caution it could weaken Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid broader debate in the US over skilled immigration and state-level interventions in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically-skilled professionals that are not easily available in America. Initially granted for three years, these can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for those committed to supporting the United States; with individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, to get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card.
