The lack of skilled pilots is now causing chaos at our airports

[webfact]

file photo. Credit: Wikipedia

 

by Michael Bridge

 

Now the world seems to want to fly again to visit relatives or just to get out of the home, airports are finding they are unable to cope.

The return to plane travel has been a very, very rough ride. 

From hours-long queues at security and passport control to thousands of cancelled flights and countless lost bags, the aviation industry is still struggling to get back in the swing of things.

Recently we reported five-hour queues just to check in at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport.

 

Now the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) are suggesting that unskilled pilots are also to blame for delays.

 

Vietnam Vietnamese pilots have occupied runways longer than needed while airplanes were not parked in order, causing thousands of delays in June, aviation authorities said.

 

In the latest survey conducted at their HCMC airport, a Singapore airline's plane left the runway in just 60 seconds after landing, while Vietnamese pilots needed nearly 70 seconds.

Over in the UK ground staff have been the main reason for the delays as baggage piles up.

However, we keep reading about airlines canceling hundreds of flights and this is due to a critical shortage of pilots.

A pilot shortage had been forecasted since 2018 and 2019, but the pandemic expedited the issue since thousands of older pilots took buyouts when airlines shrunk their workforces in 2020.

According to travel data firm Mabrian, the worst airline for cancellations is… Turkish Airlines! (That's right, shockingly, it's not British Airways or EasyJet.) 

Turkish Airlines has canceled 399 flights over two weeks in June – nearly seven percent of all its scheduled departures.

The chaos is evenly the fault of both airlines and airports, but some airlines have certainly been worse than others. 

A new study from travel data form Mabrian has totted up the numbers of cancelled flights and – more importantly – the percentage of cancellations by each airline to find out which is the absolute worst.

Below is Mabrian’s full top ten least reliable airlines, along with the percentage of cancelled flights.

1. Turkish Airlines, 6.66 percent
2. EasyJet, 5.46 percent
3. Wizz UK, 3.14 percent
4. Tui, 2.64 percent
5. Saudia, 2.5 percent
6. Scandinavian Airlines, 2.47 percent
7. United Airlines, 1.29 percent
8. Wizz, 0.76 percent
9. Vueling, 0.64 percent
10. AirEuropa, 0.62 percent

 

Pilots need to save time

In Vietnam during takeoff, air traffic controllers must calculate to save every second though Vietnamese pilots still spend 10-15 seconds on average to start running.

"It is clear that our pilots do not have an awareness of saving time," said an official.

At Hanoi's Noi Bai airport, pilots must make sure they leave the runway within 60 seconds after landing and take-off within 30 seconds.

"It is very hard to accept the fact that a flight from HCMC to Cam Ranh airport in Khanh Hoa took only 45 minutes, but passengers have to wait several hours," an official stated.

Staff Shortages

As a result, airlines are having to combine routes or discontinuing services when necessary to offset staffing shortages. 

This move is similar to the height of the pandemic when carriers reduced to minimal service as travel demand plummeted.

However, consolidating flights to conserve pilots and reduce operating expenses isn’t as simple as waving a magic wand. 

 

Pilots can only fly planes they are certified to operate.

For example, a pilot certified for small commuter jets won’t be able to fly a long-haul “Big Bird” aircraft which is larger and holds more passengers.

Former employees have changed occupations or don’t want to risk another layoff, so are not willing to return to the aviation sector again.

Training typically takes six to 12 months with a minimum of 40 logged flying hours. 

You must get certified as a private pilot before getting your commercial pilot certificate. 

Private pilots learn to maneuver a single-engine airplane without assistance from a copilot.

The shortest possible time it takes to train and qualify as a commercial airline pilot is around 18 months. 

This assumes the trainee has no previous flying experience and performs to a high standard throughout their training. 

Realistically for most people, it is likely to take around 24 months (2 years).

So even if the airlines can recruit pilots today, they still need to train, and simulators can be booked ahead for months.

So, we will need to get used to less flights available at higher prices for the next couple of years.

 

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[StayinThailand2much]

So predictable with people being laid off or not having ongoing flight training the past two years.

 

But it's not always lack of pilots or other personnel. My flight was recently cancelled as the airline suddenly cancelled flying to an international destination in August, even though demand for such flights keeps rising.

Edited July 17, 2022 by StayinThailand2much

[stoner]

i just came back from canada. took me 3 days to complete the journey. the breakdown is on almost all levels. you can't shut down the world for 2 years and not expect a sh show to happen after. coming into suv was the smoothest part. loads of open customs booths. bags out and left with my wife in under 30 min. YYZ and FRA both complete gong shows. at YYZ there was about a 50 customer deep line to get into the sky lounge lol 

 

in canada there was signs all over the place...... we're hiring....... ahhh yes but are you paying.

 

good luck convincing people to work for peanuts anymore after the nonsense they just went through. 

 

 

[law ling]

Quite a few issues raised in the OP ... but I'm not happy to read that pilots are being pressured to speed up their take off procedures - I'd say it's safer to let pilots take as much time as they want at such a critical time.

[KhonKaenLive]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The chaos is evenly the fault of both airlines and airports

???? Of course, this has nothing to do with insane government pandemic restrictions like lockdowns. 

[KhonKaenLive]

1 hour ago, stoner said:

. you can't shut down the world for 2 years and not expect a sh show to happen after. 

Hear, hear! 

[honcho]

its part of the plan to save the planet..... the billionaires from davos want us to stay home and keep our carbon footprint small while they jet around in private lear jets, dont give up!!! power to the people

[KhonKaenLive]

16 minutes ago, honcho said:

its part of the plan to save the planet..... the billionaires from davos want us to stay home and keep our carbon footprint small while they jet around in private lear jets, dont give up!!! power to the people

I would have called you a conspiracy theorist two years ago. No longer. Spot on. 

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, stoner said:

you can't shut down the world for 2 years and not expect a sh show to happen after.

Exactly why you should NEVER have shut the world down in the first place and should NEVER do it again

[4MyEgo]

I could imagine how many disgruntled pilots there would be after being laid off without pay, without any remorse and then a letter in the mail, or an email, ah....you can come back to work now.....lol

 

How about trying to entice them with a good pay rise morons, after all corporations are also dispensable as they are finding out.

[bkk6060]

My biggest concern is the lack of experience the new pilots will have.  Anyone else notice some of the very young looking pilots flying domestic airlines here?

Just saying, I hope there is not some speeding up the the training process to get these new pilots on board.  

[mikebell]

3 hours ago, stoner said:

coming into suv was the smoothest part. loads of open customs booths. bags out and left with my wife in under 30 min.

Good to hear - I'm off next week.  Meanwhile on Thai roads ...

[japanese]

I don't see any mention of the forced vaccinations that made a lot of pilots either quit, or having been jabbed then suffering adverse effects makikg them unfit to fly.

[wombat]

Now there is a thought I will mull as I buckle up and take my sleeper for the flight...unskilled pilots.

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, japanese said:

I don't see any mention of the forced vaccinations that made a lot of pilots either quit, or having been jabbed then suffering adverse effects makikg them unfit to fly.

Perhaps because, even if it occurred, it was some time ago!

[zzaa09]

1 hour ago, law ling said:

Quite a few issues raised in the OP ... but I'm not happy to read that pilots are being pressured to speed up their take off procedures - I'd say it's safer to let pilots take as much time as they want at such a critical time.

Sure. Bound to bounce back in time. 

Meanwhile, we'll have all the whingers and anxious pundits to amuse us.

[ifmu]

1 hour ago, KhonKaenLive said:

???? Of course, this has nothing to do with insane government pandemic restrictions like lockdowns. 

nah i'll go for airlines and airports .. they had 2 years to get their shht together  ...  fail

[austhai]

Sounds like an asian & middle eastern problem. The answer is to employ pilots from other countries (westernized) also, maybe they kept some training going. Just a thought as the prices are high everywhere & would cover the salaries.

[JCauto]

Wow, all the amateur epidemiologists are back! Were you finally going back to uni to catch up on those noisome statistics courses you missed out on the first time? Excellent that y'all realized you were talking about things you hadn't a clue about so decided to swot up! Just wondering though how you managed to acquire decades of experience as well in that short time since you were last pontificating...

[stoner]

7 minutes ago, ifmu said:

nah i'll go for airlines and airports .. they had 2 years to get their shht together  ...  fail

its a little bigger than that. so your comment. fail. 

[swm59nj]

  So if there were no shut downs , required vaccines, and restrictions, some people are saying this  airline and other issues wouldn’t have happened.  
So just have the pandemic, ignore it, and do nothing about it.  Let life go on as normal.? 
The only thing that theory maybe would have accomplished is that many more people would have died. So maybe you would have been less inconvenienced. 

[actonion]

Skilled Pilots??,,,,,,,,,,,one would hope there are  not  other kinds of Pilots  commercially flying  other than the skilled types

[actonion]

2 hours ago, KhonKaenLive said:

Hear, hear! 

And still no  one has been made accountable for this  shut down,........... will they ever 

[david_dyer]

wow, this will be interesting......baby pilots flying high on ganja that this forum advertises

[smedly]

46 minutes ago, JCauto said:

Wow, all the amateur epidemiologists are back! Were you finally going back to uni to catch up on those noisome statistics courses you missed out on the first time? Excellent that y'all realized you were talking about things you hadn't a clue about so decided to swot up! Just wondering though how you managed to acquire decades of experience as well in that short time since you were last pontificating...

and you of course are a genius at everything

[david_dyer]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

My biggest concern is the lack of experience the new pilots will have.  Anyone else notice some of the very young looking pilots flying domestic airlines here?

Just saying, I hope there is not some speeding up the the training process to get these new pilots on board.  

 

[Excel]

Seems like it is not just civilian airlines that are suffering from the lack of skilled pilots, as given the number of crashes over the last few years it appears to affect the RT Army/Airforce also, except in those cases paying passengers lives are not put at risk.

[smedly]

26 minutes ago, swm59nj said:

  So if there were no shut downs , required vaccines, and restrictions, some people are saying this  airline and other issues wouldn’t have happened.  
So just have the pandemic, ignore it, and do nothing about it.  Let life go on as normal.? 
The only thing that theory maybe would have accomplished is that many more people would have died. So maybe you would have been less inconvenienced. 

exactly, and those deaths would have included many pilots

 

lets not forget we did not have vaccines for quite some time into this debacle

[goatfarmer]

1 hour ago, japanese said:

I don't see any mention of the forced vaccinations that made a lot of pilots either quit, or having been jabbed then suffering adverse effects makikg them unfit to fly.

Like is for the first observation: fired for not getting vaccinated. I wonder if they are a significant proportion of the deficit?

[smedly]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

My biggest concern is the lack of experience the new pilots will have.  Anyone else notice some of the very young looking pilots flying domestic airlines here?

Just saying, I hope there is not some speeding up the the training process to get these new pilots on board.  

I agree, modern aircraft pretty much fly themselves until something goes wrong - it could be a ground crew error - a maintenance error etc etc but ultimately it falls the pilots to recover the situation which usually needs to happen very quickly

 

how have these aircraft been maintained while sitting doing nothing is also a huge concern