[ad_1]
But in the past couple of weeks, a new ingredient has been added to the recipe for air travel anxiety, and that’s being sorely missed at the airport. The media has been heavily reporting on the dangers of airplanes taking off and landing. In the year In 2023, seven calls of varying severity were received. This includes events in Boston, Burbank, California, Austin, Texas, Honolulu, New York, and Baltimore.
Add to that a wing clip on Logan, a storm in the sky over New England, and a man from Leominster threatening violence with a broken, broken spoon, and the result is an old media frenzy, the likes of which are usually reserved. For Blizzard and Tom Brady’s Instagram account.
All of these incidents are serious and deserve coverage. But what may be lost in the doomsday report — and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s soap opera-style questioning of FAA leadership — are facts like the industry’s safety record.
“I think people are missing the point by jumping on these scattered events,” says author and pilot Patrick Smith. “Statistically, commercial air travel has never been safer. Major disasters today are few and far between, whereas in the olden days we would see one or more every year. This is lost on people.
Smith is no shill for the industry. His blog (Ask the Pilot) and his book (“Cockpit Confidential”) provide an in-depth look at the inner workings of airlines. He is a commercial pilot who flies Boeing 757 and 767 airplanes for a living. If we were in danger, he would have said as much and probably quit his job. Instead, he is looking at the long game.
“In some ways, the media is fixating on the trivial because we don’t have the big stuff anymore,” he said. “People are attracted to anything involving airplanes, especially if it suggests danger or scandal.”
Taken from Matthew McConaughey’s wife is the reason why we pay more attention to the video that was shot after the riot, which, you know, shows the displaced buns instead of looking at the facts.
In the year In an analysis of FAA data from 2018 to 2022, Politico found 23 near-collision incidents involving commercial passenger or cargo aircraft in the United States. In four of those cases, the FAA determined that the plane “minimally avoided” a crash.
Looking back, There has not been a fatal commercial airline crash in the United States since 2013, when an Asiana Airlines plane hit a sea wall while landing at San Francisco International Airport, killing three people. In the year There hasn’t been a major crash on a US commercial airline since 2009, when the now-defunct regional airline’s twin-engine turboprop crashed into an aerodynamic tent, killing 49 people on board and one on the ground.
“In 1985, there were 27 major plane crashes around the world,” Smith said. “In past decades, it was common to see many serious accidents every year – the kind that killed hundreds of people at a time.”
Coincidentally or not, the International Air Transport Association, a trade group representing more than 300 airlines, released its annual safety report on Tuesday. In the year In 2022, there will be five fatal accidents involving passengers and crew on commercial airlines worldwide, down from seven accidents last year.
Among the 32.2 million flights in 2022, there were five fatal accidents, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said in a statement accompanying the release. “This tells us that flying is one of the safest activities a person can engage in. But although the risk of flying is exceptionally low, it is not without risk.”
Walsh’s statement that flying is safe but not risk-free is a huge, unpleasant sign of this column. According to experts, the recent disappearances are a warning sign that we are at a critical juncture in airline security. In the case of grazing, even if there is no risk of death, all parties must sit down and assess the damage without pointing a finger.
“These near misses are a serious concern for the FAA and the entire industry,” said James Hall, who served as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1994 to 2001. At every level due to covid, from pilots who retired online to flight attendants and mechanics.
He said the high level of activity required much more training. He also stressed that climate change will create more violence for travelers and that new protocols should be developed for those risks.
“You don’t wait for the danger to act,” he said. “You already thought to get rid of them.”
The pilot shortage and lack of experienced pilots and turnover within the airline are not the only concerns. The pandemic has also reduced the number of air traffic controllers.
“The FAA wants air traffic controllers to retire at 56,” said airline industry analyst Henry Hartvelt. “We know that the work is very difficult. During the pandemic, especially in 2020, the FAA couldn’t hire that many air traffic controllers because the Covid protocols limited the number of people you could have in a closed area for training.
Hartevelt said that despite the good pay (the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median annual salary for air traffic controllers was $127,920), the FAA is competing with other industries to hire new talent. FAA acting chief Billy Nolen told Reuters last summer that the agency is on track to hire 1,000 air traffic controllers.
However, Harteveldt, who knows more about aviation and its complex intricacies than most of us, says he is not backing down from flying despite the recent problems.
“You have to look at the numbers, and air travel is incredibly safe,” he said. “In fact, the United States is one of the safest countries to fly. You are talking to someone who flew to Singapore and returned without incident. I have several trips planned over the next few weeks. I don’t hesitate to get on a plane.”
Christopher Muther can be reached at christopher.muther@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter. @Chris_Mather And Instagram @chris_muther.
[ad_2]
Source link
