Since COVID-19 ravaged the world causing pandemic, 51% of the global fleet of airplanes have been grounded. Through 2018 there was a shortage of pilots in the world, and continued to be exacerbated with retirements without enough new pilots, but with travel and aviation taking a beating from the widespread communication of the virus, there's now a major surplus. But that surplus will quickly return to a deficit once global travel picks back up...whenever that is...
As a self-proclaimed avid traveler, the questions that comes to mind for when flying the friendly skies returns to some kind of (new) normal are:
- How are all the pilots keeping up their aviation skills and maintaining their awareness?
- Are they regularly going through flight simulators while they're grounded, out of work, furloughed, or their longer-than-normal wait times in between flights?
- How much time must be spent in a simulator by a pilot who was laid off when the frequency of flights picks up in the future?
And to add another hurdle to the already seemingly dangerous return to flying, how will climate change impact / test the pilots' skills?
The world is becoming more and more perilous with derechos, fire tornadoes, and the Greenland ice sheet melting beyond repair which will cause spiking world temperatures, like this new mark in Death Valley. How can we be sure our pilots keep us safe? Will flying ever be the same?
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