Congested airspace and unknown hazards on a route are unpredictable factors

approved route, and it could just as well have been any other well-known carrier that was flying over that area.

As far as the Air Asia incident in December is concerned, there is nothing to indicate that low-cost carriers compromise on safety; in Europe, Ryanair and Easyjet are two of the largest short-haul airlines, while in the US, Southwest Airlines has an excellent safety record. There’s also no proof that Asian carriers are less safe.

I might also point out that these issues may not purely be down to the airlines, but also to congestion in Asian airspace generally, and the capabilities of civil aviation in countries such as Indonesia to handle air traffic and pilot requests to deviate from their flight path.

When it becomes a macro problem such as this, there is little a travel manager can do apart from follow advice when it is available. I know that some managers were concerned after the head of Total Oil was have shown that congested airspace and unknown hazards on a certain route are all unpredictable factors that are outside the control of travel managers.

Lastly, I would say that if an employee’s job involves a lot of travel, and the events of last year are causing them concern, then they should speak to their travel manager and possibly to their HR team to see if there’s any help they can get. That could be a change in their travel patterns, or investigating fear-of-flying courses or cognitive behavioural training.

It was a horrible year for those directly affected by the tragedies, but airline safety has improved year on year, and 2014 was better than ever, according to statistics I’ve seen.