Increasing numbers of passengers are being screened each day by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), indicating that more and more of us are starting to fly again. In fact, Mother’s Day weekend saw three new pandemic travel records. On Sunday, May 9, US security checkpoints screened 1.707 million people, slightly bettering the record of 1.703 million set on Friday, May 7, which eclipsed the Thursday record of 1.64 million. Records were broken yet again on Sunday May 23 when the TSA reported processing 1.863 million passengers through its checkpoints. Although air travel has yet to return to anywhere near the typical levels seen before COVID-19, which brought flights to a near standstill, officials attribute the recent improvements in part to the nation’s vaccine rollout. Of course, the surge in passengers makes the nation’s air carriers extremely happy and they are rapidly bringing idled planes back to the skies.
American Airlines returned all of their parked aircraft to the fleet as of May 1 but that wasn’t as easy as it sounds. A team of mechanics had to unwrap, inspect, clean and refurbish jets which the airline had placed in storage for most of last year. During that time with so few travelers, the carrier simply didn’t need as many planes. American actually retired entire types from its fleet during the pandemic. They’ll no longer fly the Boeing 757 or B767, the Airbus A330-300 or the Embraer E190. While many of the company‘s jets were parked, employees covered their engines with tarps, wrapped sensitive parts such as airspeed sensors that could be damaged by the elements, and laid foil protection in the windows. At least once every ten days, there was a scheduled maintenance appointment for every single airplane: check the engines, check the landing gear and rotate the tires to prevent flat spots. “In many ways, we…actually have more maintenance requirements on the aircraft that has been in storage…than we do if the aircraft is out actively flying,” reported Roger Steele, assistant manager at the company’s maintenance base In Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Ed Sangricco, managing director of the facility, said the carrier was out of space and used nearby areas of the Tulsa Airport to store the extra jets. “They were parked on taxiways…anywhere we could find a space, we had aircraft.” American saw demand climbing with spring break, Easter and Passover travel. It also saw vacationers booking flights for this summer and realized they needed to return those idled planes back into service. Each day an aircraft was parked, American lost about $50,000 in potential revenue, Steele claimed, and that figure didn’t include the labor hours for the necessary maintenance work. So, American began the meticulous process of putting the aircraft back into service. They’re not alone in rebuilding their business though. Southwest Airlines said recently it needed all flight attendants back at work this summer and it’s recalling the 2,700 who were on voluntary leaves of absence After temporarily furloughing crew members, United Airlines is back to hiring, offering jobs to 300 new pilots and Delta Air Lines is returning about 400 of its pilots to active duty.
At American Airlines, bringing a single aircraft back into service requires about 1,000 hours of work. Sangricco referred to it as “an incredibly big task” to bring these planes “out of hibernation.” The engines and all related systems are scrutinized to ensure they‘re performing at optimum levels. The oil is changed and all the fluids are checked. Workers inside the jet remove interior panels and replace carpeting, all part of a cosmetic overhaul to the passenger cabin while mechanics examine every essential flight system. Multiple switches are pushed and buttons pressed in the cockpit, testing assorted computers and alarms. Other mechanics use pumps to lubricate the landing gear. “Every single part has an inspection,” Steele said. “Even coffee makers on the aircraft have a maintenance manual and a prescribed test before the aircraft can go back to flight,” he reported.
For the final step, American pilots fly the jet to make sure all systems are working properly before passengers come aboard. “I want to go out and do this maintenance validation flight to ensure that the pressurization systems, navigation and communication work,” said Larry Toering, a B737 and B777 captain with the airline. Among the critical inspection points is the engine bleed air fifth stage check valve on some B737s. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned last summer that corrosion of this part while the plane sits in storage could cause “dual-engine power loss without the ability to restart,” a critical issue if that occurred in flight. Sangricco asserts that travelers shouldn't be concerned about this part failing on their next flight. “All of the things that could have been negatively impacted by the fact that it was parked have been identified, they’ve been addressed, and they’ve been resolved,” he said. “I can assure you 110 per cent that these aircraft are safe and they’re ready to fly.”
Pilots are also inspecting their own skill set before flying again. A recent analysis by CNN of safety reports filed with the Federal Government found self-reporting errors by pilots which they attributed to spending weeks or months away from the cockpit. Even so, on any given day, about 400 pilots filter through American Airlines' training programs. Initial preparations for mock flights in massive flight simulators begin before the sun rises, and the final simulated landings take place after midnight. Jim Thomas, a captain with 35 years experience who now leads flight training and standards at American, said his team is no stranger to pilots returning from leaves of absence. Some pilots spend time away from the cockpit for medical or personal reasons, and others return to the company after being called up for military service."Where we would normally be training long-course pilots to learn new aircraft, in this case we're getting them re qualified," Thomas told CNN recently. "We're not going to allow them to go fly the line until they're fully trained and ready to go fly."
At American hubs in both Dallas and Charlotte, pilots file into classrooms and simulators to hone their skills. In one, an instructor walks these officers through slides about programming the flight director computer. Nearby, pilots fly various scenarios in the simulator. Curtis Joens is an American captain who recently returned from a four-month leave of absence -- the first of his three-decade career. He said that as a more senior pilot, he took some time away from the job to give lower-ranked pilots an opportunity to keep flying. Joens reported that he studied before brushing up on his skills at the training center. He also said one instructor commented after a simulator ride that his time away from the cockpit wasn't noticeable. The key to safe flight, Joens noted, is the methodical way pilots approach their work. "We don't just sit down and say, 'OK, start engines,' and fly by the seat of our pants," he told CNN. "There's a checklist and a methodology for everything that we do, all the way from the preflight to starting engines, to taxi and takeoff.” American says they’ve analyzed their pilots and insist the pandemic has not led to a decline in their skills. Joens added that pilots have a conversation before the flight to talk about any concerns, which would include time away from the job. "Just realize you've got two pilots up there, they're supporting one another, they're watching one another, they're challenging one another," he said.
Airlines are currently flying about 45% fewer flights than usual, according to the trade group Airlines For America. But the industry is hopeful travel will recover as more people receive coronavirus vaccines. That type of uptick is what it will take for larger numbers of pilots to return to flying. In the meantime, it is an issue the airlines will continue to monitor.
Until next time…stay safe.
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