Covid19

The Pandemic is Diminishing Pilots’ Flying Abilities

Published

3 years ago

08/02/2021

Last year, thousands of airline pilots were furloughed and suspended from their jobs due to the novel coronavirus. Many of these employees went through hard times and struggled to make a living during the pandemic last year. With improvements in this new year, numerous airline pilots are finally returning to the skies after a dramatic reduction of flights from 2020. However, serious problems have emerged, as many pilots have found their skills at flying to be a bit “rusty”. Many pilots’ skills at flying an aircraft have been mildly impaired due to a lack of recent practice, and this could mean serious issues for the near future in the aviation industry.

Image result for airline furlough — Credit: CNBC

Since thousands of pilots have been away from their jobs for several months, many of them have reported being unclear on some aspects of flying a plane. Although many commercial pilots have been flying for several years now, their abilities can still be impaired from a long break. There are countless components and detailed procedures to flying a plane, so it’s not entirely the pilots’ fault; flying isn’t a permanent skill. During the past few months of returning to commercial aviation, there have been multiple reports of minor pilot faults from flying a plane. For example, one pilot damaged a part of a towing vehicle after forgetting to disengage the parking brake while pulling back from the gate. More recently, another pilot forgot to turn on the anti-icing mechanism on the plane, which could have caused the altitude and airspeed sensors on the outside of the plane to be blocked with ice. In another incident, a pilot landed at an airport without clearance from the air traffic control tower, which could have resulted in an aviation accident if another aircraft was on the runway. Additionally, one pilot had so much trouble landing that it took him three tries to get the aircraft successfully on the ground. These are only some of the few minor incidents among a dozen that have occurred since pilots have returned to flying.

Image result for worried pilot — Credit: AOPA

One of the pilots explained their faults in a statement by saying, “This was my first flight in nearly 3 months. I placed too much confidence in assuming that it would all come back to me as ‘second nature.’” This proves that pilots will still need training no matter how confident they are in their ability to fly an aircraft. The transition from idling at home to maneuvering a plane in a cockpit could present a couple of challenges regardless of how skilled one pilot is. Thankfully, no serious accidents have occurred so far from these small incidents, but it is definitely something airlines will need to deal with. All of these flights have landed safely without any problems, but that doesn’t mean this will be the case for all flights in the future. As for the pilots, there haven’t been severe consequences from these errors, since it is reasonable to forget things from a lack of practice.

Image result for cockpit plane 777 — Credit: Pinterest

To resolve these problems, airlines are filing their pilots through refresher courses to replenish their flying abilities. Airlines are also hosting simulator sessions for their pilots to experience flying again. The FAA is also requiring pilots to perform certain flight maneuvers, such as landing and taking off, within brief time periods to keep their skills sharp. Pilots coming back from a furlough or some other break are being refreshed to properly fly a plane through these programs. Practice is required to fully restore the abilities of a pilot, and airlines are working to ensure that all pilots are properly trained before returning to the industry.

Image result for flight simulator being 787 — Credit: Boeing

After all these new insights on the qualification of pilots to fly, is flying still a safe mode of transportation, and should passengers be worried at all? The answer is still a yes! Despite these small mishaps from pilots over the past few months, flying is still a safe mode of transportation. To be a commercial pilot in the first place, one must have thousands of hours of flight time. Even though pilots may still commit these small mistakes when flying, the likelihood of crashing is still highly unlikely. Pilots will still have the general sense and understanding of how to fly a plane. It’s just the small details that they might forget to do when coming back from a break. Even if a pilot forgets a major component of flying, there is still no need to worry since pilots are being retrained to fly. With many pilots back in the air, the aviation industry is one step closer to being fully recovered again.

Sources:

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-01-29/airline-pilots-flight-errors-pandemic

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/pilot-mistakes-pandemic-downtime/index.html

Cover image credited to Getty Images

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Airlines of the World

Cathay Pacific Chair and CEO report results from 2022, and expected recovery levels for this year

Published

7 months ago

09/03/2023

Sam Jakobi

In a press conference attended by Aviation for Aviators, Top executives at Cathay pacific reported on the company’s growth and recovery during the year before answering questions from the media. In the opening statement provided by the company’s chair, Patrick Healy, he talked about the recovery levels expected from the airline in the year, and the profits from the previous year.

The Company’s results

When talking about the year of 2022, Patrick Healy said “Our airlines and subsidiaries reported an attributable profit of 2.3 Billion dollars in the second half of 2022.” This indicates recovery at the airline, as this is reportedly the first time the company has made a profit since 2019. This matches many other airlines in the time period, as the industry begins to take back the areas which it has lost due to the pandemic. When talking about profits at Cathay Pacific, this not only includes the main area of the airline, but also their Cargo and Low cost airlines and firms as well. The Pandemic was particularly damaging to many of the airlines in East Asia, as China’s COVID regulations were harsh, and in some areas, are still being lifted. This is important because in most cases, China has the largest group of tourists travelling with east Asian airlines, and so for them to have harsh regulations would drastically decrease passenger numbers.

In terms of recovery this year, Healy Stated “By the end of March, as a group, we will be operating approximately 50% pre-pandemic flight capacity”, a figure which some might view to be low compared to others. However, when talking about recovery in terms of destinations, Healy said that they would be “Serving more than 70 destinations.” The Chair then continued to say that these numbers should be increasing by the end of the year. However these are still not close enough to the levels they were before the pandemic, as would be expected with most airlines.

How is Cathay Pacific ensuring that their fleet is as environmentally friendly as possible?

In answer to a question about the environment asked by Aviation for Aviators, Cathay Pacific’s CEO, Ronald Lam, Said: “Being a leader in sustainability is a very important part of our strategy moving forwards, and in fact we have announced our commitment for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050; as well as usage of 10% Sustainable Aviation Fuel by 2030. We have been making plans and implementing actions to make this happen. So, for example, last year, we launched the first ever corporate sustainable aviation fuel program in Asia which is joined by a number of partners from different sectors. We are very encouraged by their participation. We have also signed up with a number of different parties sourcing for SAF for the future. We have an investment in a company called Fulcrum in the US in which they have offered to supply us with a good quality of sustainable aviation fuel for the future. And also we have signed up another company called Amadeus with uptake of SAF in the future. So we are working to us building more SAF supply to reach our 2030 target in the coming years. So that’s one main area, working on the SAF. Another Area, We will continue to upgrade our aircraft to new generation aircraft. From this year onward, we still have 48 firm aircraft orders that will be delivered. And each of those aircraft will provide up to 15-20% fuel efficiency and therefore lower carbon emissions compared to their counterparts in the older generation. So those are the two main focuses that we have on sustainability. “

In Simple terms, Cathay Pacific is making a commitment to the environment, in particular with the use of Sustainable Aviation fuel, that is, fuel which emits no negative impact on the environment. They also are trying to keep their fleet modern and efficient, to ensure that the least amount of damage is made.

In Conclusion, Cathay Pacific are making significant advancements in the way that they are recovering from the Pandemic and the damage which it has caused to the aviation industry. In terms of recovery, whilst progress may be slow, this is something expected of the airline as many others are going through similar things at the same time. With regards to environmental impact, Cathay Pacific is making commitments to make its aviation cleaner, with a new fleet and sustainable aviation fuel developments on the way.

Please Note: All information was taken from Cathay Pacific’s March 8th 2023 Press conference.

Cover Image credit: NPR

Airports

Why flying empty makes sense at the moment

Published

2 years ago

05/01/2022

Lukas Wopmann

With the current spreading Omicron variant, many airlines have announced a reduced network for the upcoming weeks. Instead of slow growth, we see yet another fallback and the recovery of the industry seems still far away. In these times it seems logical to avoid any unnecessary costs, yet still Lufthansa (despite cancelling 33’000 flights in January and February) will fly more than 18000 flights empty. These flights are not for maintenance reasons, nor for aircraft positioning, nor for pilot training reasons or full with cargo. The reason lies within an absurd rule of the European Union regarding airport slots.

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What are airport slots?

In simple words: An airport slot is a time window when an airline is allowed to land and depart at any airport. As airport capacities (before COVID19) were limited, also the number of slots per time window was limited and the slots were a crucial instrument for any airline. Slots were seeing a high demand and good slots were difficult to get, as the “old” airlines had priority (“grandfather rights”), when the slots were distributed twice a year at an IATA conference. Any airline was keeping their slots unless they did not want them anymore. The only criteria were that they had used the slot in 80% or more in the last period.

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An airplane take off the airport
(Source: aerolatinnews.com)

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How is it now?

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When COVID19 started to affect our globe, it was clear that this 80% rule will not be met by any airline, as the industry collapsed. As an exemption, this criteria was not active and airlines could reapply for their slots, even though they had not used them a lot (slot waiver rule). This was done for the schedules of summer 2020 and winter 2020/2021. For the winter of 2021/2022, the European Union has once more reduced the value by 80%. This time 50% of all flights have to be operated to qualify for the grandfather rights. With the current situation, these flights could not be operated as demand is too low. To keep the rights for the slots, airlines now will fly empty to just use their slots at different airports.

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Conclusion

The slots are a crucial way to harmonize the global aviation network. It is of utmost importance that they are handled with a global view to match all needs. However; in a situation such as the pandemic we are in, criteria must be changed to not put the additional (unnecessary) cost to the airlines – not to forget the environmental aspect of these flights.

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Sources

https://www.reisereporter.de/artikel/12071-fliegen-trotz-corona-schuetzen-schleier-aus-luft-passagiere-kuenftig (Cover Image)

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_units/systemops/perf_analysis/slot_administration/slot_definition

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Aviation

Thousands of pilots were forced into quarantine in Hong Kong

Published

2 years ago

13/12/2021

Sam Jakobi

Over the past 2 months, hundreds of pilots have been forced into three-week long quarantine periods in Hong Kong’s Penny’s Bay facility. The rooms consisted of converted shipping containers and people staying there were allowed no outdoor time. Pilots in the quarantine have come from a variety of airlines, like British Airways and Cathay Pacific.

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Expats forced to confront Hong Kong's 'brutal' Covid quarantine | Financial Times — An image of the Penny’s Bay facility
(Credit: ft.com)

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A huge number of Cathay Pacific staff was forced into three-week quarantine after coming into contact with a COVID carrier in Frankfurt, Germany. Even though the crew’s PCR tests were negative, they were considered “potential close contacts”. The rooms were simple, with a bed and a bathroom, not much else. Hong Kong has imposed a strict testing and isolation regime to keep on track with China’s policies, but this is causing many pilots to isolate themselves when returning from abroad.

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Covid-19: Hong Kong's Penny's Bay quarantine centre has been unfairly tarnished - here's the flip side - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP — An image of a room in Penny’s Bay
(Credit: hongkongfp.com)

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The spread of the new Omicron variant is causing travel to be restricted a lot, and more and more pilots and crew are having to isolate. When pilots and crew first arrive in Hong Kong, they do a PCR test and wait for it. Those who are negative are told to isolate themselves at home. They are then told to “avoid unnecessary contact” for a further 18 days. If pilots test positive or are marked as close contacts, they are sent to the facility for 21 days. Family members are often sent to quarantine too.

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Air crew flying into Hong Kong also have to follow these rules, with crews from airlines such as KLM and British airways having to isolate. Luckily, a group of Hong Kong citizens has come to the rescue, providing supplies to people undergoing quarantine. These supplies often include food, as the food in Penny’s Bay is almost like something you might find in economy class on an airplane. This food is estimated to cost around 30 HK$, equivalent to £3 in the UK.

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Hong Kong Covid: The Cathay pilots stuck in 'perpetual quarantine' - BBC News — An image of the food at the quarantine facility (Credit: bbc.co.uk)

Many pilots have been released before the end of their proposed quarantine, but that doesn’t mean that all have gone. People continue to be sent to Penny’s Bay and other facilities around Honk Kong, even though the city remains with very few coronavirus cases. For now, all we can say is that one of the largest aviation hubs is likely to stop having crews fly there in many cases.

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