Dear readers,
As 2021 continues to zoom by, feeling much like 2020 2.0 with only some minor bug fixes, we bring you our March issue of Aero Crew News. Last month we asked for you to contribute to our Feedback page. We only received two letters and we’re hoping to do better. What’s on your mind? How is your flying gig going? Is your company hiring pilots? Are you looking for a flying job? Surely you have a good aviation story or two. We all do. Any emergencies, strange phenomena to recount? We want you to send us your stories, poems, praises and photos (unless you want to save the latter for our annual photo contest).
Speaking of our photo contest, we’re looking for theme ideas. We’ll be glad to consider any you have. Also, if you have suggestions on how we can serve you better or ideas for stories that you would like us to cover, send those to us, too.
We used to have a column of restaurant reviews. We’d love to revive that with reader contributions for Fly Bites. If you’ve dined somewhere worth mentioning, send us your copy and pictures. We’ll even edit the copy for you.
We read every email sent to [email protected].
Fly safe,
Craig Pieper
I am an Aviation Consultant specialising in Operations and Crew Planning – crew utilisation. Over the years, my primary focus was on the business utilising crew to the maximum. From 2010 leading up to the pandemic my outlook changed significantly. I began to focus on fatigue and crew utilisation in rostering and I have learned that this area of aviation is an enigma for many people. I also heard many complaints from crew on how the business affects them, for the most part I am sure it is a lack of communication from the management to the crew. Unions were fighting for better conditions and airlines were pushing back, wanting more productivity. Now we are in the middle of a pandemic and our industry, along with others that support it, are in severe crisis. So many people have been laid off world wide, some aircraft have been sent to a sandy grave also awaiting their fate. I would like to add one serious note here, why is there not a universal set of Flight Time Limitations? Science has progressed significantly during the last decade, but still, the FTL’s have not caught up. The demands of 24/7 aviation operations highlight prescriptive approaches alone do not address inherent sleep and circadian challenges nor do they provide operational flexibility. Airlines have lost money, some are in debt from government bailout, airline staff are waiting for an opportunity to get back into what they love. Will anything really change? Will either side learn anything from this pandemic?