Anonymous Qantas pilot highlights management failure , while exposing behind-the-scenes airport chaos !

There are many stories to the air travel 2022 and the talks of "Revenge travel" , the travel demand across the globe while recovering from absolute zero flights , to that of a match to the pre-pandemic level has proved to be a tough ask for the airlines.

Carriers are unable to deliver and primary reason for this spectacular failure is learnt to be the lack of manpower or management of that factor, not the shortage of aircraft or any such related assets.

Recently , An  Anonymous Qantas pilot opened up about the 'chaos behind the scenes' , that is brewing the narrtive for the sudden flight delays and cancellations, and the travellers have to bear the inconvenience in the process.

Under a pseudonym Tom , the Pilot told  the ABC , how he quickly realized things were not the same when he returned to flying after the pandemic.

“There is no one to talk to and when you go to work you are basically on your own. It’s like we’re running a virtual airline,” he said. “In my three decades with Qantas I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He revealed the experience of an international flight earlier this year where he got to the plane and found there was no drinking water on-board and the Load and Trim Sheets had not been finalized for the flight.

“It feels like a rudderless ship at the moment,” the Qantas pilot revealed.

Load and Trim Sheets are documents which enables the pilot-in-command to determine that the aircraft’s load and its distribution throughout the aircraft are such that the mass and balance limits of the aircraft are not exceeded.

After the passengers had boarded , Tom let them know they were waiting on a final piece of paperwork and then they would get underway.More time passed and there was no load sheet. When he tried contacting to the concerned section over radio whose job it was to answer pilots’ queries, there was no answer.

Transport Workers' Union blames the "ground staff shortage" for the damage on the Engine number-2 outboard thrust reverser cowl of the Qantas B787-9.

He then received an unexpected call from an engineer, who informed him another 15 containers just turned up with bags to be loaded.

Then he was told the water delivery team had run out of potable water and could not tell Tom when it would arrive. The passengers sat in their seats ready for takeoff.

“It feels like a rudderless ship at the moment,” Tom told the ABC.

“Keeping to departure times has always been sacred in the airline industry. In the past we would be kept informed – you will be 10 minutes late, 15 minutes late. Now you must pursue the information yourself and they may, or may not, know the answer.”

Scenarios like this, though seen at lesser rate before 2020 , are an everyday business now , specifically when Airlines are trying to move towards pre-pandemic normalcy. Shortage of staffs, pilots and cabin crews are being seen at an acute stage.

The current stage, that aviation industry have achieved , is purely due to the marginalization of the aviation workers , either through layoffs , non payment of wages or reduction in that . Many employees moved away from the aviation — never to be back again.

Pilots, cabin crew and airport workers from Qantas and its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar were sent home without pay from mid-August last year ,for an estimated two months.

It's not easy to train aviators , pilots , engineers, cabin crews  in a short notice , so , while bigger international carriers are poaching staffs from smaller regionals, the managment of Regionals are being forced to lure the manpower by perks , benefits and salary hikes — here you welcome Chaos !

Still , the skilled manpower void created by the Pandemic does not get filled easily , and expected to take some time from now. Airports are reducing Capacity, airlines are cancellling flights due to the intrusion of such management crisis and manpower woes.

One chaos affected passenger took it to the social media on a recent prolonged delay and said ,

Eleven-hour stopover tacked on to Qantas flight amid Heathrow chaos. Yes just arrived from that very flight. They forget to mention the 3 hours on the tarmac waiting to take off in 40 degree heat, 2 hours waiting to get through security at terminal 4!

Governments are blaming and threatening the carriers to perform better within the regulated framework of fees and fares , while highlighting the aids and grants from them , during the Pandemic.