Long flights to nowhere keep trainee pilots certified

KEEPING AIRLINE CREW FLIGHT-READY IS ONE OF THE CHALLENGES CARRIERS FACE AS THEIR FLEETS REMAIN LARGELY GROUNDED

NEWYORK: Airlines are taking extreme measures to survive the pandemic, with Asiana Airlines Inc flying the world’s biggest commercial plane more than 20 times, going nowhere and carrying no passengers, just to keep trainee pilots certified.

Keeping crew flight-ready is one of the challenges carriers face as they grapple with the unprecedented crisis that keeps more than a third of the world’s fleet grounded.

The empty Airbus SE A380 flew over South Korea for a few hours a day for three days in May to enable pilots of the 495-seat superjumbo to practice taking off and landing. The alternative — a trip to Thailand to use a simulator owned by Thai Airways International Pcl — was blocked because of travel bans, an Asiana spokesperson said.

“Takeoffs and landings of this plane cost a lot of money, and it’s money that needs to be used wisely, especially these days,” said Um Kyung-a, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities Co in Seoul. “Asiana is in a bind because it also can’t afford for its pilots to lose their licenses.”

Asiana had another 135 pilots who didn’t have enough flying time on its six A380s, but it couldn’t afford to keep flying the empty jet. In the end, the country’s transport ministry extended the pilots’ flying credentials as a special exemption. Japan’s All Nippon Airways, which operates two A380s, received a similar extension from Japan’s aviation authority.