Airlines' push for speed: Is safety becoming a casualty?
India, Aug. 8 -- Those who flew in the 1960s and 1970s may remember how flying was a relatively relaxed and pleasurable experience. Of course, there were reports of untoward incidents, but these were extremely rare. By and large, flying was a happy, stress-free experience - for both passengers and airlines.
Then came the entry of private airlines. More aircraft, more slots, and more choice for the fliers. Run by the government, airports - especially in the metros - got busier, and their shortcomings soon became visible. The rules of the game, however, remained largely unchanged, and flying remained an exclusive club, out of reach for most.
Air Deccan's entry reset the paradigm - this time, by ushering in the low-fare flight revolution. Other companies followed, and flying became far more accessible, replacing train travel at the higher end for many, to save time. From 2004-05 to around 2019, fliers enjoyed having plenty of options and cheap fares, airline salaries rose as the business grew and began to deliver returns for some players. Indian airports, which had been languishing under government control, improved vastly under private stewardship and became comparable to some of the best globally.
Then came Covid-19 and halted everything for a bit.
But it is what has happened after the pandemic that is worrying. Even though flying today is much safer than five or six decades ago, the entire ecosystem now seems set to a frantic pace, making the whole experience more tense. Post Covid, leisure travel has come back with a vengeance, and business travel has limped back, albeit at a much slower clip. Airports - some with improved facilities given the private-sector funds pouring in - have become more crowded. And commanders and crew have emerged from the pandemic far more stressed than when it started.
Amid this, the near-hostile relationship developing between crew and management in almost all Indian airlines is deeply concerning. Crew members allege that an obsession to cut costs (and maximise profits) seems to have crept into the psyche of the carriers - including the market leader that sets the tone. In some ways, this penny pinching and the obsession with on-time efficiency runs counter to safety.
Let me elaborate on a few new practices that are of no benefit to the passenger and serve only one purpose: Maximising revenue and profit. These are on top of the additional costs imposed on passengers, such as clubbing food with drinks that I have written about earlier.
One is the near-constant endeavour by low-fare airlines to maximise the number of hours each aircraft flies and cut aircraft turnaround times. This has often led to a situation where a long line of passengers looking to board a flight sweats it out in the vestibule, waiting while those who arrived on the same flight disembark. While this may be important for the carriers to reduce aircraft turnaround time, it makes fliers feel rushed and adds to the "assembly line" feeling of boarding a flight .
zA senior airline insider and frequent flier asked me, "Why should I care how quickly the aircraft is turning around?", arguing that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation should be laying down the maximum number of hours an aircraft should be utilised rather than letting airlines push things to the breaking point. He argues that ground engineers, in particular, should be given ample time to declare an aircraft worthy of flying. In this mad rush, something might give. In the worst-case scenario, he points out, safety could be the casualty.
The obsession with on-time is also beginning to lead to frayed nerves - with both the check-in staff and those in charge of boarding pushed to less-than-pleasant interactions with passengers perceived to be causing delays. The ground staff often seems on the edge - almost as if their life depended on it, akin to fast-delivery agents skipping red lights on the roads, risking their lives. Civility is the first casualty when a passenger is delayed for some unavoidable reason. Being on-time is great, but if it comes at the cost of customer experience and frayed nerves, one is not sure if that is worth it.
This is not to say all passengers are always easy, but the constant drumming of the "late is a four-letter word" message in the ears of ground staff has led to paranoia about performance and apathy towards the flier creeping in. Civility is one of the factors that distinguishes Indian airlines from most American and European carriers, a quality worth preserving. Do we really want to be brusque or even rude with elderly passengers, or refuse to accommodate someone who has a disability or is otherwise slow for some reason? Surely, we don't need to ape the West in their worst practices?
Another point is that commanders and crew are pressured by operations control and flight dispatchers on on-time take-off and reducing aircraft weight regardless of whether or not they are comfortable with the minimum equipment list (MEL) or even the fuelling requirements for the flight.
A former Jet captain who is now with one of the low-fare carriers says that at his former airline, he often had to point out that the aircraft was "over-fuelled", and even a small query on the MEL ensured prompt redressal. In his present airline, fuel is often at bare minimum, and dispatch is almost hounding the crew to take off on time, dismissive of MEL concerns. Caution, he argues, is being thrown to the winds.
This is a consequence of the low-fare philosophy of maximising profits - which per se is fine. But it can't come at any cost, overriding all other considerations, including safety. Ask any flier, and they would swear by the "better late than never" adage....
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