The Aviation Safety Reporting System has been inundated with hundreds of reports from pilots, flight attendants and support personnel on flight safety issues directly related to COVID-19. NASA runs the program as a consequence-free method for aviation personnel to describe safety miscues that didn’t result in incidents. Acting on a request, NASA culled out all the COVID-19-related incidents it could identify and it tallied 841. Among the most common topics (aside from passengers refusing to wear masks) are errors made by rusty pilots. Pilots have claimed their lack of recency has been to blame for everything from missed clearances to having to make three tries for a gusty crosswind landing. “Air Carrier flight crew reported flying an unstabilized approach,” says one report synopsis. “First Officer was the Pilot Flying and had not flown in 30 days.”
Just goes to show how overstaffed the airlines are with pilots considering how slow they are now. I wonder how many airline pilots are making more than the minimum in salary since they usually get paid by the flight hour.
The “cattle car” mentality of most airlines in recent years has created enough tension and ill will among the flying public. The pandemic regulations have pretty well provided the tipping point for it all to boil over. My solution is to drive or fly my own.