At the recent Farnborough Airshow 2024, British Airways announced that the airline is improving the performance of its latest Airbus A320neo fleet via enhanced use of data and analytics. The announcement came as the airline had its latest A230neo on static display for four days during the airshow. “We were recently looking at how we can fully utilise data and analytics, and one thing we began to realize was, if for example an engine begins to start up later than normal, it’s an indicator that a starter valve is going to fail,” said British Airways CEO and Chairman Sean Doyle. “And now we have a preemptive intervention—if a neo engine is starting up at six minutes rather than three, we replace the starter valves before we get an [aircraft on ground] and we’ve reduced aircraft downtime on that fleet by about 4% as a result.” The flag ship carrier of the United Kingdom has an in-service fleet of 25 CFM Leap-powered A320neos and 15 Leap-powered A321neos, according to the Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database. It comes as British Airways recently announced its £7 billion ($9 billion) transformation plan, outlining many initiatives ranging from digital upgrades to its website and app, to operational performance. While just around half of the overall investment is going into new aircraft, the other half is going into modernizing the airline, and this also includes investing in the people who will safely fly these magnificent machines to get passengers around the world. At the airshow, the airline proudly announced a £21 million investment to give up to 200 prospective airline pilots the chance to follow their dream of flying for a commercial airline without the worry of self-funding the £100,000 cost of training, opening the door to being a commercial airline pilot to more people than ever before. “We need to make sure that in a challenging environment—like Heathrow—that we run a much more intelligent and sophisticated operation than we have been doing,” Doyle said. On top of these announcements, the airline also selected GE Aerospace's GEnx-1B engine for six incoming Boeing 787s rather than its current engine partner on the widebody, Rolls-Royce. "The GEnx engine is performing well with millions of reliable flight hours under wing and proven fuel efficiency and economics," said a spokesperson for IAG. "This selection by IAG and British Airways affirms the confidence we have in the GEnx engine and 787 aircraft combination." The GEnx engine family has more than 56 million flight hours since entry into service in 2011 and is the fastest-selling, high-thrust engine in GE Aerospace history with nearly 3,000 engines in service and on backlog, including spares. Will the elegance of once being the "World's Favorite Airline" come back to greet passengers as they board the warm wood-effect non-textile flooring, which covers the length of the galley and forward to the lavatory and flight deck? Time shall tell but for now, these transformations are certainly a much required fresh breath of air. ![]() The aircraft was only delivered on July 17 and entered commercial service on July 19. G-TTNY operated a few flights before arriving at the airshow on July 21 from a short 15 minute flight from Heathrow! The seating configuration sits a total of 180 passengers, with a blend of Economy and Euro Business. Photo Copyright Navjot Singh Retired British Airways pilot Captain Nick Eades—the world's most experienced Boeing 747 pilot with over 30,000 hours on the type—published his memoir in 2021, Self-Improver. I had the chance to do a Q&A with Nick, including about his 40 years in aviation and how the industry has changed since the day he decided to become a pilot in 1979. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Captain Eades decided to write this autobiography of his life in aviation, from starting his career in aviation as a self-improver, right from the bottom because he didn’t have the money to attend a flight school. Hence the name of the book goes by the same name. The book is full of interesting antidotes, from when he was cleaning and loading aircraft to flying U2 on their Joshua Tree Tour. Here he reveals some interesting truths. Nav Singh [NS]: Nick, thank you very much for your time. Now that you have retired to a writer's life, you must miss all that travelling and glamour [except the time zones and simulator checks!], do you? Nick Eades [NE]: Thanks for having me having me here, Nav. I flew for 50 years. In that time, I flew over 30,000 hours on most types of aircraft, from open cockpit biplanes to executive jets, and of course the 747. I am now totally happy for others to enjoy the skies and I simply love my new career of writing and hopefully producing aviation themed books and television programmes. NS: The 747 has over 6 million separate parts, so, as a 747 pilot is it true that you need to know practically everything about the aircraft?, and how long did it take you to learn and know about the aircraft inside-out [even things that are perhaps small but important…. technical and non-technical]? NE: Interesting question! Things have changed drastically over the decades. When I did my initial classic 747 course in 1987, we were taught by a mixture of ground instructors and self-learning ‘Carousels’. Basically, we attended “chalk and talk’ lectures and then sat in a mock-up of a 747-flight deck and watched a series of slide presentations of the aircraft systems. We were also given an audio cassette to listen to at home and in the car. Of course, we were also given a full set of technical manuals. At the end of the course, you were very familiar with all of the aircraft systems. The entire course lasted approximately three months. However, a very experienced training captain at the time advised me that it takes a minimum of five years to be fully competent on the aircraft. After 34 years on the 747, here I was still learning! My last course on the Boeing 777 had a two-week ground course that was fully self-taught with no instructor lead training, except for a few hours in a fixed base simulator. At the end of each course, I knew a lot more about the 747 than I did about the 777! NS: As you’ve written in your memoir, you couldn’t initially afford to attend a flight school, so you became a self-improver. That is not easy these days because the cost of getting a license is expensive, and not many airlines offer sponsored cadet schemes. However, are self-improvers really looked down upon by the airlines? NE: Another excellent question. The basic cost of getting a commercial license is approx. £125,000, plus another £20-25,000 for a type rating on something like an Airbus A320 or Boeing 737. Today you can only achieve your Commercial Pilot’s License [CPL] by attending an approved school. The airlines today do not mind if you are “self-funded” or sponsored, as both trainees have gone through the same system. This is very different from the way I qualified. In the past you had to achieve 700 hours flying time to sit the flying exams. There was no formal training as such. A pilot first achieved a Private Pilot’s License [PPL] and then built up the hours. A good way to do this was to become a flying instructor, a course you could take after you had achieved 150 hours. So, in answer to your question, today’s airlines are very happy to take on self-funded pilots as it saves them the cost of initial training. In my day, a lot of pilots looked down on “self-improvers” as they had not completed an approved training course. Some captains even refused to speak directly to me, instead insisting on communications through the flight engineer (!). NS: Is it true that airline pilots spend as much time in the simulator as they do in the cockpit? NE: No, they don’t. I was flying 900 hours a year in the real aircraft and only eight hours a year in a simulator. NS: Wow, only eight hours a year! So, according to you, what makes a good airline pilot? NE: A combination of manual dexterity, intellectual flexibility, and emotional empathy, combined with a good sense of humour. NS: That is quite interesting. What would you say is the best and worst parts of being an airline pilot? NE: The best part is the incredible variety and sheer pleasure of flying. Combine this with being paid to see the world then you have a very heady mixture. The worst part is the endless night flying, time changes, and of course the dreaded six-monthly simulator checks. NS: Talking of simulators and training, do aircraft versions differ much? Can you name some differences between the old 747-400 and new model 747-8 model, for example? NE: The main difference is that the 747-800 is ‘fly by wire’. In other words, you fly the aircraft through a computer. The 747-400 was one of the last aircraft that the pilot, not a computer, actually moves the control surfaces. NS: Very thoughtful to say the least. Now, to me, the 747 looked like what in most people’s opinion a plane should look like [or at least it did when I was a kid plane spotting at Heathrow!]. In your opinion, could they have kept the 747 going with more efficient engines and aerodynamic wings or it just wasn’t possible? NE: No, the 747 was actually designed on the back of a cigarette packet in the 1960’s [!]. Sadly, a four-engine aircraft is no longer commercially viable. Engine technology and reliability is so advanced today that flying in a twin-engined aircraft today is statistically safer than flying in a four-engine aircraft 40 years ago, and of course a lot more financially efficient. NS: One of the world’s most famous and challenging approaches was to the former Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong [Madeira in Funchal is probably similar, but nothing beats Kai Tak!]. Can you share what it was like doing angled approaches at Kai Tak? NE: I flew into Kai Tak on many occasions. Obviously, the approach and landing onto runway 13 with the famous “checkerboard hill” approach was exciting, especially in a 747! You literally flew towards a red and white checkerboard on a hill and when you reached a certain point you executed a turn to the right. You the picked up the IGS (Instrument Guidance System), which guided you literally through the skyscrapers until a last steep turn at 200 feet to line up with the runway. It was a tremendously challenging and exciting approach and landing because the runway ended up in Hong Kong Harbour, and for those unlucky enough to get wrong, they actually ended up in the harbour itself! The beer that night somehow always tasted sweeter! NS: Even for pilots who fly the latest Airbus or Boeing aircraft, nothing beats flying the 747, or comes close to it! What was it really like flying the 747? I mean the sheer size...things like lining up on the runway [some have compared it to steering a double-decker bus while being sat the top deck!]. NE: On my first day at The Cranebank Centre, the former British Airways training facility near London Heathrow Airport, the instructor pointed to an office block at the other side of the carpark and asked us to look at the very top of the building. There, above the final row of windows, was a blue plaque. We were asked what we thought it was there for? Everyone could not believe it when we were told that was the height of the tail of the aircraft we would shortly be flying. My first take off was as exciting as my last one 34 years later. We would taxi out, looking above everything else and feel an immense pride in flying this incredible aircraft. You could instantly tell that every other pilot was jealous and wanted to in the seat you were currently occupying. Turning onto the active runway, I always watched the face of my co-pilot as they pushed the throttles forward, waited until the engines were stable, and then announcing, “Setting Power”. Almost without exception the smile on their faces grew wider as the aircraft accelerated down the runway. My last grin was as large as my first one. It was quite simply the ultimate flying machine. NS: Now, with all the buzz about AI affecting many industries, including aviation, is it really going to effect on this industry? I mean, planes have had autopilots for decades and have to some extent been on “artificial intelligence” since the 1980s at least. NE: This is a hot subject in aviation and has been over the past few decades. There is a great article called “Children of the Magenta Line” written in 1997. This details pilots’ tendency to blindly follow the magenta line on the new computer screens in modern aircraft at the expense of everything else. In other words, pilots were losing their natural ability to manually fly and navigate the aircraft and over relying on automation. This has resulted in a number of accidents that, arguably, would not have occurred if the pilots had retained their manual flying skills. That is why I personally hand flew the aircraft on very suitable occasion and always backed up the computer’s predictions with a rough prediction of my own. If the two varied by any significant amount I would stop everything and start again. NS: For some pilots, no doubt money is a good motivator to keep on going and flying, and perhaps they move to places such as China or the Middle East to earn very tempting high tax-free salaries that are unheard of in the UK [$350K tax free in some cases!]. What was the motivation in your case to stay at one airline and one aircraft type for majority of your career? NE: I had a very varied and interesting start to my career and had all the excitement and trauma condensed into a very short period of my career. When I joined British Airways, I found a lifestyle and aircraft that I loved. Life is not always about money, and I was lucky enough to be paid a reasonable salary, which allowed me to have great lifestyle balance. NS: Now, we have read a lot of myths about the brace position, can you please elaborate why the brace position is not included as part of the safety demonstration prior to take-off but is only written/illustrated in the safety card? I always wondered that because various airlines have created in-flight safety videos but have never seen the brace position being demonstrated.
NE: The simple answer is that it would be impossible for a cabin crew member to demonstrate the brace position without actually being in a seat. If they were in a seat nobody could then see them, except maybe a few people sitting next to them! The brace position was actually changed a while ago to reflect the differing seating options on today’s aircraft! NS: Nick, thank you very much. It has been an absolute pleasure having you on my blog! NE: Pleasure is mine. Thanks. Thanks again to Nick for spending time to share his thoughts, and for being kind enough to autograph his book for me. And before [or during!] your next long-haul flight, you may want to read Nick’s book! Click here to purchase a copy. My daughter and I were fortunate enough to spend around four hours touring the "Landor" livery Boeing 747-400, G-BNLY, belonging to British Airways on the Experience Day, 26th of June, 2021. No parts of the aircraft were out of bounds, so although subject to strict numbers on board at any time to comply with COVID and safety regulations, it was great to get the chance to see everything close up. This was a rare chance to get close and personal with the 'Queen of the Skies' (or any aircraft for that matter) because if you want to take photos of aircraft at airports, then it is usually all rushed and not an enjoyable experience (especially for us aviation enthusiasts, and even airline crew after 9/11 are banned from taking photos with some airlines.). We boarded adjacent to the Club World cabin, and we then see Club World and the World Traveller cabins, going towards the back of the aircraft. It was an added bonus to get to go up the ladder into the crew rest area, right at the back of the aircraft! With the aircraft being in storage since March 2020, and with limited amount of air conditioning or refurbishment/cleaning of the seats etc., so there was a slight pungent smell inside the cabin (similar to something you may have in a stuffy garage on a hot day.). But, never the less, the experience was priceless. Then back to the main door and up the stairs to the upper deck - and a walk through to the Cockpit. Though we were not allowed to sit in the cockpit seats because the aircraft is still technically 'active' (i.e. it can be taxied and towed to other parts of the aerodrome etc., and also for insurance purposes.), it was still an amazing and rare experience to be able to spend quality time without being rushed (as you usually are when flying.). There was also a chance to do a walkaround and get close to the under belly as well as the undercarriage bays - parts that passengers never get to see up close. This experience day was only open to the public for one day, and so this may be the last time I may get to be close to a 747 ever. You rarely see a 747 these days at airports (except for the occasional cargo aircraft, and even they are becoming rare.). So this was a very special day indeed and one that will go down in history. It was a great experience - and I hope these photos provide some insights and maybe even bring back lovely memories for some! ![]() A 747 has five turbine engines! Hiding inside the tail (shown here) is an extra engine called an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU). During on-ground operation, it provides bleed air for cabin conditioning from a low spool-driven load compressor, and electrical power from two gearbox-mounted 90kVA generators: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh
The much anticipated annual World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, generating more than £2.8 billion of business contracts between attendees, opened it's doors to the media and invited guests in London at the London ExCel with a spectacular display of song, dance and plenty of glamour on the morning of the 6th of November. It's the key event for the world's travel and tourism industry, with practically the who's who of the industry coming together to discuss important issues, close important deals and reveal new product and service offerings in a world exclusive. Below are some exclusive snippets I gathered from the action-packed three-day event.
Here is what I had to say about the importance of attending the event:
![]()
BBC News anchor Aaron Haslehurst opened the event for the media with an overview of the year for the industry. He summarised that the industry is more optimistic in 2017/8 than last year with over £3 billion in business and is set to grow. He also revealed that Italy and Greece are actually enjoying the high growth of tourism despite Brexit happening, and this trend is set to continue. Photo Copyright Navjot Singh
![]()
Alex Cruz, the CEO of British Airways, gave an inspirational talk on his thoughts and strategy to make the national flag carrier a leading five-star airline while at the same time keep costs down. Despite being a tough year for the airline, Mr. Cruz is optimistic that 2018 will be a fruitful year for British Airways, and that cutting down on certain things, such as free in-flight food & beverages on European and Domestic routes is the correct thing to do because the majority of passengers would prefer that. Aviation experts predict that the introduction of paid services, such as in-flight Wi-Fi could also bring in extra income for airlines. Photo Copyright Navjot Singh
Cricket legends attend the WTM 2017When the world comes to London!![]()
China's economic growth will see a trend in the independent traveller- whereas before it used to be that group travel was popular in the country. Chinese visitors to the UK will also increase in the coming year. A particular reason is the awareness about global tourism generated in China via digital and social media platforms such as WeChat: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh
![]()
Slovenia, one of those countries that deserves more attention than they get. With great food, wine and spectacular views, this is a country that offers a lot for the tourist and is not that expensive either. Foodies delight, Slovenia will be a major hit list in 2018 according to industry experts. Photo Copyright Navjot Singh
![]()
THY Turkish Airlines had one of the biggest stands I have ever seen displayed by an airline. The award-winning airline has constantly been voted the best in Europe and offers more routes worldwide than any other airline...will they be the next Singapore Airlines? We shall see. Photo Copyright Navjot Singh
![]()
SAUDIA- Saudi Arabian Airlines unveiled new Business and First Class seats and products during the WTM 2017. They have ambitious plans to operate to over 200 routes by 2020 and maybe even plan more routes to London, a traditional destination for them, and to emerging markets such as India and China. Photo Copyright Navjot Singh
![]() Dress made by paper award-winning British artist and designer by Zoe Bradley on display in the Club Lounge at Heathrow's Terminal 5. For 2017's Milan Fashion Week, Bradley’s latest creation was a full-scale ball gown and headpiece. The commission, from British Airways, furnished Bradley with carte blanche to interpret the brief of “travel, fashion and style”. From first sketch to finishing touches, Bradley’s gown took less than a month to complete. About 700 individual royal-blue ruffles made up the skirt of the dress, while a corset of white petals was accented with a sash of crimson, hand-curled roses. Worth a look. Photo Copyright Navjot Singh When your fiancée is flying from London back to her hometown in China for Chinese New Year and in order to prepare for our wedding (which is on Chinese New Year itself!), you want to do something to make her trip extra special. Unfortunately because of logistical and personal reasons, I could not go on the same flight as her, and will be joining her a week later in Yangzhou. So, I passed a kind request to the lovely team in the PR department at British Airways to see if they could do something. I was hoping that the Captain would make an announcement, but the wonderful crew of flight BA169 from London to Shanghai exceeded all expectations. Not only did they upgrade her to Business Class (known as Club World at BA), but she was given a surprise congratulatory announcement in-flight. I could only wish I was there, but what a flight she had. Great stuff. Massive thanks to the Senior Purser, Captain and the whole operating crew of BA169, and of course, the ground staff at BA's head office in London. You guys are amazing. The perfect customer service that one can ever hope for.
There are no simple answers to these questions. Becoming an airline pilot has never been easy in any time in history. Back in the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s, many major airlines around the world were investing heavily in the recruitment and training of future airline pilots by providing fully sponsored cadet pilot schemes, where the airlines would provide financial support, and the only requirement from the student was to pass all the rigorous selection tests and be medically fit. Effectively, this job- which is no longer the glamorous job it used to be with airline pilots being referred to as "glamorous bus drivers" - is very tough to get and equally tough to stay in. However, since the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001, and the global economic crisis, the vast majority of airline companies have cut back on providing a fully sponsored cadet pilot scheme. Instead, most would-be pilots have to either take a bank loan, or invest at least £120,000 to gain the frozen Airline Transport Pilot's License (ATPL) with around 200 hours, after which there is NO guarantee of a job. Back in the 80s and 90s, all you had to do was get your frozen ATPL, and then the airline would provide the extra type-rating and training for you to get you to become a first-officer on your chosen aircraft type. Simply put, to become an airline pilot these days requires a huge financial investment, and without a guaranteed job at the end of it. That's assuming you pass the medical exams, and all the other theory and practical exams first time around (some of the best airlines require at least 90% in all exams), and if you don't pass them then that can go against you). One of my mates has just started studying for his flying at the age of 28 (which is fine as he will be around 31/32 by the time he qualifies for his first job), and another mate has started flying for the first time at the age of 45 (!). Being 36 now, I personally would not do it, simply because of the huge amount of commitment, personal sacrifices and risks (both financially and personally) one has to take. If you are in a relationship or married with kids, then it is even more of a challenge. Some do manage it. A friend who was a doctor did a career change at the age of 39- she got the ATPL licence at the age of 41, and started working for Wizz (Hungarian airline) at the age of 43 after forking out around £150,000 of her money without a loan to get where she wanted to be. Key Points: 1. First and foremost, pass your medical (must have an ATPL Class 1 medical) and pass all your 14 theory exams 2. Have at least a budget of around £120,000 to cover the 18 months course (including accommodation, exam fees, food and lifestyle costs. If you have to re-take the exams or if you take a modular course then the costs can be higher). It is probably cheaper in the US, Canada and Australia 3. In the UK, Oxford Aviation Academy and CTC Aviation are the best schools (highly respected and acclaimed by many global airlines) 4. Don’t do it just becase of the money- because flying is not the same as it used to be back in the 1970s/80s. You’ll be flying many more hours and for less pay for many years. One of my mates has spent at least £180,000 over the course of four years to get his hours and type rating himself, and now works as a Second Officer for Cathay Pacific Airways- and with no home and no family at the age of 35. The bottom line is, only get into this career if you truly believe that flying is for you and nothing else should matter. Be prepared to sacrifice everything, and I mean everything and anything (plus you need support from your family, too). If, however, you work for a government backed airline, such as a state-owned carrier (i.e. Air India, Air China etc.), then you may consider it a job for life- BUT if you fail your medical or your simulator checks then that is the end of your flying career. Here is sound advice I got from one highly experienced airline Captain who has been flying for nearly 30 years: "First things first - get your medical exam done before anything else. If you don’t have a Class 1 medical certificate, then there is no point carrying on. It is highly recommended that you get an ATPL-level medical as that is more detailed. Most people don’t, and it’s much stricter than CPL or PPL. Secondly, to get the required 1,500 hours after gaining your flying license, that is a LOT and you will most likely need to spend your own money if an airline is not sponsoring you! You couldn’t do anywhere near that AND the ATPL subjects. I barely do 1,500 hours in TWO years on the Airbus A330 (Duty times are limiting on back of clock operations). If you started at 34, for example, I would recommend doing ALL the theory exams before wasting more than 50 hours flying…too many people make the mistake and it drags out for years. 18 months full-time at, say, Oxford Aviation Academy or CTC (the BEST you can get) would get you a frozen ATPL licence and not even 200 hours I think. Then you have to get hours to build up to 1,500 hours. Who is going to hire you versus a 23-year-old who they can bond to give years of service in exchange for a cadet-ship? So you really have too suss out the market, and KNOW before you start, where you are going to get the hours from, who will hire you and what their requirements are. I would personally think that 34 is too late to start - I started at 26 and it was a stretch…but I think you WOULD get a job in the industry if you wanted it. The reason? The retirements are coming thick and fast - particularly in the USA - and Boeing and Airbus are selling so many planes these days, especially in India, China, SE Asia, Middle East and Africa. But do you want it? The money is a third of what it was when I started - but you still have to pay at least US$120K to get into it. The conditions are woeful and levels of safety have declined massively. Given my life again, (at 26 had three companies, at 27 had a house etc., I sold everything to pay for the flying licence), I would spend my efforts making money and buy a Learjet or Citation to fly myself around in, and ONLY fly where I wanted to go, and in good weather. You can’t imagine the stress/tiredness/ageing that occurs when you are flying into crap places, in crap weather in the middle of the night when you DON’T want to be there. It’s not healthy. The monsoon and Calicut -keeps me awake at night. I am flying for the best airline in the world, with the best equipment in the world…and the rosters are the worst I have had in 29 years of flying and I can’t see myself doing it more than another 3 years. Having said that, you could have an entire career flying turbo props and have a ball…given the right airline and location. I haven’t talked about the SIMs (simulator exams and checks) every half-year and licence renewals…only having a job for six months at a time. Knowing that the next time you walk out of a simulator, you could be unemployed and out of the industry for good (same each time you do the medical exam every year). You can’t ever relax - you can’t have a holiday for more than 34 days - or you lose your licence. Every three months you have to get back into the books and study. The SIM-tests gets most people…some are incapacitated by it. The best airlines only allow you to fail once, after which you are either out to look for another airline to join or you go back to the books for another six months before taking the simulator exam again. Not easy. The physiological stress that comes with failing a simulator exam can be enough to put one off the career. Worth considering in advance. The same goes for the health checks. You fail a routine health check and that’s the end of your flying career. Pilots below the age of 40 years are checked annually, whereas those above are checked six monthly. Medical standards and certification are stringent. Their eyes, ear, nose, throat, equilibrium, mental, neurological, cardiovascular and general medical conditions are checked by an aviation trained doctor. As long as a pilot is certified to be medically fit, he can continue to fly internationally up to the age of 65 years in the US, Australia and other ICAO member countries. This limit is not fixed worldwide, as the retirement age for Captains can vary from country to country. In Germany and the U.K., pilots by law are required to retire at 55 years of age. If a pilot fails their medical check, then they can look for a ground based job. They can retrain and become good at some other type of work: aviation mechanic, computer scientist, engineer, law etc. Some of these fields will actually pay a much better salary than a pilot’s job. If you are not fit to fly, no amount of bargaining/rationalizing is going to fix that — you've got to accept it and just move on with a positive attitude. The root cause (psychological problems, in your example) is a red herring. You may have to change careers for many reasons: injury, family, health, etc. SO, there is a lot to consider. Hope I have given you some food for thought. There WAS a cadet-ship in British Airways in 1967-9 (I think)…and in 1968 in Australia anyone with a CPL got an airline seat - then the airlines filled-up with no jobs given until the late 1980s…but that was it. They are running cadet-ships in India, Hong Kong, Qatar, Oman, Vietnam and U.A.E. for their locals now…and in Oz a few airlines are selling flying trying + bonding - but no cadet-ships- meaning that you have to fork out the case yourself. British Airways does a sponsored scheme but you have to provide £80,000 as a security bond first (which you will get back). I am not aware ANY good airlines did cadetships after the hiring boom of the late 1960s (they hired anyone worth a licence and 1,000 or so hours but nothing below that). It always cost about US$120,000 to get a licence…mine cost less upfront cash and that was in the 80s - but took three years - so by the time you earn/pay tax/ and live, so amounts to much more than that. The drama of getting from 200 hours to 1,000 hrs has ALWAYS been tough. Every pilot will give you the same story, each worse and more horrid than the next guy. It’s the industry’s way of weeding-out those who are less than focused enough to make it. The world is littered with 800 hour failure pilots who cannot get a job after gaining their license! So, make sure that you have a plan B in case something goes wrong. Unless you are wealthy and have the cash in hand, most guys who take a loan take until they are in their 40s to pay it back. Which really stuffs up your family life. I started late, and was never been able to afford marriage and kids in my 30s. Now in my 50s, I am too late for all that. But I made the decision when I started flying: Commodore (car)/Rolladoor (garage)/ Labrador (dog!) or flying. And I chose flying. Since I joined jets in 1992, I was a First Officer- earning 65% of a real wage until I was 52. And these days the wages are getting lower and lower. I will retire at 57, purely because I can’t handle the exhausting lifestyle. It’s much harder than when I was in my 30s. The airlines make us work much harder. If my airline went part time, say a 75% roster I might stay, but I highly doubt they will. I sat there watching Captains visibly age-from 60-65 they turn into old men! But if flying is for you, you’d have known when you were six. Nothing would have stopped you getting there. It has changed markedly since I took it up. It’s a young man’s game - and - for most, safety is plummeting. Did you know Singapore Airlines have fired ALL their expats? The week before Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crash at San Francisco, they did a go around after doing the exact same thing…with a Boeing 777 full of passengers. THAT- in the 90s - would be inconceivable." Read this excellent article by BALPA Below is a video of a veteran American pilot who gives the low down on the subject. Worth watching: Caught while landing on Heathrow's runway 27L....not easy to get a shot while coming into a windy touchdown at 145knots!
BA's Concorde, reg G-BOAB, first flew on 18 May 1976 from Bristol Filton. Her last flight was a positioning ride on 15 August 2000 as "Speedbird Concorde Bravo Papa 002" from New York JFK to London Heathrow after flying 22,296 hours. Ever since then she has sat quietly at Heathrow, admiring all the new boys and girls on 27L in front of her. Beautiful bird! During busy period, when planes are waiting to land at London Heathrow Airport, they are usually placed by London Air Traffic Control to hold and circle around any one of four main points around London- Lambourne (North-East London), Ockham (South-West London), Bovingdon (North-West London), and Biggin Hill in South-East London. Aircraft are separated by a height of 1,000 feet. We circled around Biggin Hill for around four times on this occasion...providing me with spectacular views (like below)...and frustration for the other passengers who just wanted to go home!
![]() Captured on the way to a short trip to Geneva. The mountain was the scene of two fatal air crashes; Air India Flight 245 in 1950 and Air India Flight 101 in 1966. Both planes were approaching Geneva airport and the pilots miscalculated their descent; 48 and 117 people, respectively, died. These days, planes try to avoid the airspace around the mountain as much as possible: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh My latest feature article for the Shanghai Daily is a travel report on how to spend 72 hours in London. Like the rest of the world, I first heard about the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 tragedy on the morning of the 8th of March. A simple message on my phone from a friend who lives in Shenzhen appeared: 'a Malaysia Airlines plane en-route to PEK is presumed crashed with 239 people on-board'. I was shocked (and still am shocked). The flight was code-shared with China Southern Airlines as CZ748. I could have been on that plane had I taken that route to Beijing. It could have been anyone of us. I frantically started browsing through the various news channels to get more updates. There was nothing any of the news updates could report except that a plane was lost...it was totally bewildering. To not get a word out was very disconcerting and unusual (and still is)…'How could a sophisticated and modern Boeing 777-200 aircraft at 35,000 feet get lost around an hour after take-off in this modern-tech age?' The plane's radar transponder (which provides a ‘squawk code’ that enables ATC to track it’s movements on radar), and VHF radio link were mysteriously disabled around an hour after take-off and no one knew where the plane was or where it was heading. Since that day, the world's attention has been focused with great interest on this lost plane and its 239 passengers and crew (12 crew members and 227 passengers from 15 nations and regions; the majority of passengers were Chinese citizens). One probably cannot even imagine the horror that the relatives and families of those on-board the aircraft are going through. I do believe that the media has been too intrusive and sometimes have gone over the top when focusing on the families. Being a journalist I know very well that photographers may have to get pictures of the grieving families to please their editors, as those pictures earn them their bread and butter (sadly..), however I don't want to or have to look at them. Not only is it bad taste, but also disrespectful and wrong in my opinion. I believe that in some media reports it was confirmed that family members even scuffled with the media scrum, asking them to stop taking photos of grieving relatives. We are now led to believe that it has apparently crashed in the far reaches of the southern Indian Ocean. However, that being said, this case is still a mystery...and the truth, when we finally find and recover the wreckage (I believe they will), will be even more surprising and shocking as some of the theories that have been put forward. There have been many theories relating to the plane’s disappearance, some of them perfectly valid, and some of them completely absurd and unbelievable. For three weeks, friends and relatives of those on-board have been hoping for news - any news- of the wreckage of the plane- but nothing so far has come out. This has understandably caused a sheer amount of frustration, anger, and complete mistrust with the airline and the Malaysian government by the relatives of those on-board this ill-fated flight. Theories…Theories…And Yet More Theories (but no solid facts) Whenever there is a situation like this involving a plane crash (or presumed plane crash etc), I tend not to watch the TV news reports too much because there are too many conflicting arguments to and fro, and without being disrespectful to anyone I can say that there are far too many ‘aviation experts’ and journalists alike all proposing their own theories. Second-guessing and speculation does no good and is of no value to nobody. I don't believe in conspiracy theories because they make little sense. It is better to wait until either the wreckage of the aircraft is found - which has not happened at the time of writing this blog. Again, no offense intended to anyone, but you just wonder how on earth did some of these journalists become 'aviation experts' when some of them cannot even distinguish an aircraft type and they conjure up their own theories? Who gave them that title? It doesn't look good...and with all due respect even some airline pilots would not call themselves 'aviation experts'...they may be very good travel journalists who have reviewed luxury hotels, airlines etc....but lets not promote them or brand them as being an 'aviation expert'. I am not an aviation expert...that honorable title should be given to someone with a serious amount of technical knowledge about aviation, such as, for example, Flight Global's safety expert David Learmount and independent aviation expert Chris Yates. Both of them are highly admired within the industry. Then there are plenty of aviation experts at Boeing, Airbus, NASA etc. Some of the theories that have been mentioned by many experts include: 1. Uncontrollable fire on-board or decompression of the aircraft cabin, 2. A bomb, 3. Pilot suicide, 4. Accidental shoot down, 5. Over speed, manual recovery stuff-up, stall, loss of complete control. 6. Midair collision, 7. Hijacking Theories 1 and 5. could be plausible as 95% of crashes happen around 8 nautical miles either side of the airport below 3,000 feet and around 95% of aircraft fires happen in the first TWO hours of a flight (these are facts proven and well-known in the aviation industry). Airline pilots are rigorously trained during every simulator check (every 6 months) to realize quickly that the fire is uncontrollable, and then dive for the ground as quickly as possible before the wing burns through and find the nearest airport to land at (if possible)- all under 20 minutes. However, ditching any plane in the dark (this plane disappeared at around 01:20am) is not easy, and especially when you are flying at around 300 kph. In the initial stages of the investigation, the only real evidence available to the public was the visual observation from an oil rig worker, a New Zealander called Mike McKay. He noted in his e-mail report (which was issued publicly as shown below), that he saw flames start, and go out, at altitude near where the Vietnamese radar trace concluded. An experienced Captain I know commented that his initial reactions upon reading this report ‘led him to assume a wing separation because of over-stressing of the airframe in an apparent recovery attempt from a stall and then an eventual uncontrollable spin straight into the sea.’ That particular Captain went on to say: ‘I figured the lack of debris due to the aircraft going straight-in, and compressing the 777 to the size of a bus.’ Nobody has publicly discounted Mr. McKay’s report, and there has been no proof so far…but yet more anguish and frustration for the families and relatives of the ones on-board the aircraft. There were also many reports about the aircraft being picked-up on radar west of the Malay Peninsula. Nevertheless, the Chief of Royal Malaysian Air Force in a media statement rejected these unconfirmed reports on the 11th March (please see below)* It is difficult to believe theories 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. This is because there is no proof of any such bomb, and no terrorist group from anywhere has claimed responsibility or any demand for ransom for hijacking (from past cases we have seen that terrorists and hijackers usually cannot help taking responsibility…). Initially there were suspicions of terrorism or hijacking based on reports that two Iranian passengers boarded the flight with fake passports; however, it was eventually revealed that they were just after a better life in Europe. There would have been a clear demand from someone if this plane was held on ransom. A recent example of this was displayed on the 17th February earlier this year when an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 was hijacked by it's own First Officer and flown to Geneva. The hijacker, identified by officials as First Officer Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn, waited for his Captain to go to the toilet before locking himself in the cockpit. As with all hijacking events in history, we saw that the hijacker did contact someone to demand something- asylum in this case. However, in the case of Malaysia Airlines MH370 nobody contacted anyone. Having spoken to some airline pilots, and listened to their theories from experience, I am led to understand that it may have been a fire on-board (smoke kills within a few minutes….quicker than we all think...and especially at high altitude). At some point, after its crew and passengers surrendered and become incapacitated by smoke, the aircraft would have been flying all by itself, and would have eventually gone down into the Indian Ocean once it ran out of fuel. If the plane was in the cruise on auto-pilot for so many hours without human intervention (as people claim now)...can we say that it's a miracle that it did not collide with another aircraft?...shockingly sad, utterly heartbreaking and scary to think that a 'ghost' plane was flying in the sky with incapacitated people on board...terrible. The answer from a highly experienced Captain with over 28 years flying service was: ‘The sky is enormous, you'd be hard pressed to hit another aircraft…even if you tried it would not work….’ However, the investigation and interrogation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and Inmarsat plc, the British satellite telecommunications company, has been verified and accepted. The investigators from that company now confirm a Southern Indian Ocean trajectory and loss of signal. We have to respect that they have enough information to make that call. At this point in time, you can’t help but wonder why they (the investigators) did not dispatch a couple of long-range reconnaissance aircraft, that could have photographed the whole hemisphere by now, from over 50-60,000 feet, and with minute detail. Inmarsat sell auxiliary satellite bandwidth to airlines and shipping companies (passenger and freight), so they can provide constant movement connectivity anywhere on Earth. According to the company, around 90% of the world's wide-bodied jets come installed with Inmarsat antennas built in to the fuselage – whether or not the airline operating the plane ultimately uses it. Now, even though Malaysia Airlines did not use it for technical data transmission, nevertheless, the technology has been tremendously useful in the search operation. For the search teams’ time and the treacherous weather in the Indian Ocean are their biggest enemies at the moment because the battery of the ‘pinger’ from the aircraft’s black box is going to stop sending out signals soon. As well as the relatives of those who were on flight MH370, thoughts are also with the searchers. There's a LOT of ocean to cover (much of it the deepest in the world, and undiscovered so far), and every one of those searches are doing the best they can. The air and sea search efforts have been shifting throughout this case, and have recently shifted yet again as fresh radar data suggested the aircraft headed south faster than initially thought, bringing the plane down some 1,100 kilometres north-east of the previous search area, putting the crash point 1,800 kilometers off Perth, Australia. One thing is for sure, this investigation also reveals the large amount of rubbish that is lurking around in our oceans (!). It could have been accidentally shot-down by either the Malaysians or the Vietnamese…however, who would want to practice firing missiles at 2 a.m.?!; and when it seems that hardly anyone of the Military installations actually noticed the aircraft? Unless there are some issues that have not been monitored with the mental pilots health, no sane commercial airline pilot carrying passengers would even think of entering another country’s airspace - especially knowing that they have a military Air Force - without permission. You can bet your bottom dollar that the minute a civilian (or military) aircraft enters another country’s airspace without permission, then a bunch of air force fighter jets would be scrambled to get close and personal within minutes! In regards to reports that some villagers in the Maldives saw a plane flying low doesn't sound plausible to me. No offense but anything bigger than a seaplane would seem 'big' to the people there because most of them have probably never seen a plane of that size. Anybody...and I mean ANYBODY...who has seen the only airport in the Maldives (i.e. Male Airport) large enough to take a Boeing 777 knows that you can't hide a plane of that size anywhere on that place. The airport, just like the islands around it, is TINY...the 777 would stick out like a sore thumb! The plane would not be able to hide anywhere, even on a remote airfield. Why? Because it would have to go over land masses and it would easily have been captured on primary radar operated by the military. As I mentioned above that nobody can enter another country's airspace without being detected by the air defense zone radars. It could have been pilot suicide. However, all the commercial pilots I have spoken to have told me that it is highly unlikely that the pilot would have committed suicide. In the entire history of commercial aviation, only 4 airline pilots have been documented to have committed suicide during flight…this includes: Silk Air 185, Egyptair 990, LAM Mozambique 470, and Royal Air Maroc 630. It’s a very privileged career where individuals spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and many years to get trained, and are being regularly examined every 3-6 months for simulator training, in-flight checks, and health checks. It must take a very mentally disturbed and sick individual to take his and others lives with him on a plane. No sane pilot wants to die or kill anyone..or even think of such idiotic things. Pilots have the moral duty of taking ownership and responsibility to save lives FIRST before anything in an emergency- safety is everything in aviation. Unless there is concrete evidence that this pilot committed suicide, it's a very difficult theory to accept and swallow. The Boeing 777 aircraft has an exceedingly impressive safety record – the first fatal crash in its 19-year history only came in July 2013, when an Asiana Airlines (read about it here) aircraft crash landed short of the runway at San Francisco International Airport. Three of the 307 people aboard died. Besides the Asiana Airlines crash, the only other serious incident with the Boeing 777 came in January 2008 when a British Airways B777-200 landed short of the southern runway at London’s Heathrow airport without any serious casualties. Brand Malaysia Airlines Damaged? As the saying goes in PR that ‘any publicity, is good publicity’…however there is question in this case when it comes to a sad and tragic event like this. 'If you love life, don't fly with Malaysia Airlines!!' shouted one relative of a passenger on #MH370 as the Malaysian PM gave the news conference...at that point you would have thought that the Airline and the Government had shot themselves in their own foot (the above quote taken from twitter). According to a friend who flies the Airbus A330, there is a saying in the aviation industry that if an airline is on the front pages for more than TWO weeks, then it's bound for failure. If that statement is true then Malaysia Airlines may be history. However, I think that the airline may survive this bad episode because: 1. It's the national flag carrier of Malaysia, and 2. Malaysia Airlines is strongly financially backed by the Malaysian government and Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad. The airline may be struggling (it has been some time), however I am optimistic that Malaysia Airlines will eventually bounce back in the future. They may initially reduce the fares and go for a heavily tempting PR campaign to increase interest, OR the worst-case scenario may be that it could be taken into the hands of a low-cost carrier, such as Tony Fernandes’ Air Asia (though the latter statement may not be plausible). Bear in mind that national flag carriers have gone bust in the past (Olympic Airways, Sabena Belgian Airlines, Swiss Air (before it was re-branded), VIASA Venezuelan Airlines, VARIG Brazilian, Balkan Bulgarian, MALEV Hungarian and many others), however it must be noted that these airlines were not provided strong financial support by their own financially struggling governments. It must also be noted that some major airlines have gone bust after experiencing disasters. Prime examples include Pan Am (after the Lockerbie disaster), TWA 800, and Swiss 111. However, in these respects, Malaysia Airlines is fortunate to have solid support from their government. I firmly believe that until any concrete evidence has been presented, then those Malaysia Airlines crew and passengers should be hailed as heroes for trying to save the plane from disaster, but were unable to do so for whatever reason (fire…most likely considering what’s been presented). It’s not good of the tabloid newspaper editors for writing articles that may be deemed untrue and certainly not good to mislead their readers without any facts or proof. While the families are understandably upset with the airline and the Malaysian government, it must be noted that the airline is just an observer that is passing the information from the investigators to the public. And in this case we have investigators and search teams from around 25 countries, so therefore the ability to communicate effectively and coordinate together as ONE team in a smooth fashion is absolutely crucial. There is not much an airline can do once an investigation starts except keep the media and families of the crew and passengers informed , and therefore it is obviously causing friction because the public are not getting much information from the airline or the government. The airline’s role and credibility is measured by how they treat the families, and how they handle the media. The one good thing this has revealed is the frightfully negligent way we have approved airplane safety, particularly design of black box. Without any doubt whatsoever, we have seen ourselves on the TV screens in the past three weeks that the airline has mishandled the media (and vice-versa), and that comes across bad from any PR prospect. It just shows that the airline may have not been prepared for such an event. Perhaps this would be an excellent learning curve for all other airlines around the world too. They key word here is ‘investigation’- and so the airline cannot really do much except wait for the investigators to complete their job. When an aviation disaster happens, the airline and the management team of the airline are mere observers, and wait for what the investigators come out with. The airline has no doubt one of the best in-flight products in the industry. I fondly recall the words of Mr. Martin Barrow -former non-executive director of Malaysia Airlines- inviting me some years ago to try their product: 'Why don't you try MAS, Navjot? Best cabin crew in the world'. Nevertheless, far fetched from reality, the airline is going through some tough times indeed. A week ago when the families vented their angry and frustration during one of the chaotic press conferences, the only words I could think of were: complete madness...completely diabolical...too many 'aviation experts/cooks' in the kitchen...too much clutter/confusion...too much media intrusion around the grieving families...too many theories. We can only hope that the relatives will have some news soon on what exactly happened to their loved ones in their final moments. The one good thing this event revealed is the frightfully negligent way we have approved airplane safety, particularly the design of the black box. It's a mystery that not one piece of the plane has been found. It's a truly amazing situation the aviation industry has found themselves in - though I do believe that it may take time before we find something. When people point to the size of the aircraft, the answer to that is simple: the aircraft is not big at all. In fact it's probably the size of one bottle cap in a large sea. If it went straight into the ocean then it would have turned immediately into a metal box perhaps the size of a small bus...especially if it went in nose first, at speed...and everything else would have sadly been either vaporised or turned into minute shrapnel pieces. Until concrete evidence is presented, I, like many others, believe that we should not label the crew on that plane as terrorists, suicidal, or anything else negative...but as heroes who were frantically trying to get the plane safely back on the ground but could not do so. _______________________________________________________________________________ * a version of this article also appeared on the Huffington Post blog: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/navjot-singh/post_7222_b_5056524.html My sincere thanks to my friends and colleagues, many of whom are professionals in the aviation industry and are touched by this case, and who contributed with their thoughts to this article. - Navjot Singh *The Royal Malaysia Air Force has rejected the media reports that it tracked the Boeing 777 after it turned west in a statement posted on its Facebook page and reproduced in full below.
(This statement could be read as confirming the substance of the reports, that the RMAF did in fact follow MH370 as reported.) OFFICIAL STATEMENT BY CHIEF OF ROYAL MALAYSIAN AIR FORCE ON BERITA HARIAN NEWS ARTICLE DATED 11th MARCH 2014 ON SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA 1. I refer to the Berita Harian news article dated 11th March 2014 on Search and Rescue Operations in the Straits of Malacca which (in Bahasa Malaysia) referred to me as making the following statements: The RMAF Chief confirmed that RMAF Butterworth airbase detected the location signal of the airliner as indicating that it turned back from its original heading to the direction of Kota Bahru, Kelantan, and was believed to have pass through the airspace of the East Coast of and Northern Peninsular Malaysia. The last time the plane was detected by the air control tower was in the vicinity of Pulau Perak in the Straits of Malacca at 2.40 in the morning before the signal disappeared without any trace, he said. 2. I wish to state that I did not make any such statements as above, what occurred was that the Berita Harian journalist asked me if such an incident occurred as detailed in their story, however I did not give any answer to the question, instead what I said to the journalist was “Please refer to the statement which I have already made on 9 March 2014, during the press conference with the Chief of Defence Force at the Sama-Sama Hotel, Kuala Lumpur International Airport”. 3. What I stated during that press conference was, The RMAF has not ruled out the possibility of an air turn back on a reciprocal heading before the aircraft vanished from the radar and this resulted in the Search and Rescue Operations being widen to the vicinity of the waters of Pulau Pinang. 4. I request this misreporting be amended and corrected to prevent further misinterpretations of what is clearly an inaccurate and incorrect report. 5. Currently the RMAF is examining and analyzing all possibilities as regards to the airliner’s flight paths subsequent to its disappearance. However, for the time being, it would not be appropriate for the RMAF to issue any official conclusions as to the aircraft’s flight path until a high amount of certainty and verification is achieved. However all ongoing search operations are at the moment being conducted to cover all possible areas where the aircraft could have gone down in order to ensure no possibility is overlooked. 6. In addition, I would like to state to the media that all information and developments will be released via official statements and press conferences as soon as possible and when appropriate. Our current efforts are focused upon on finding the aircraft as soon as possible. Thank You GENERAL TAN SRI DATO’SRI RODZALI BIN DAUD RMAF Chief of Royal Malaysian Air Force Released On: 11 March 14 Kuala Lumpur Having ruled the skies for over three decades, Concorde stands quietly by the side of the BA Maintenance hangers at Heathrow opposite runway 27L and admires all the new 'kids on the block' who land and take-off in front of her. I miss the daily thundery noise that she used to make (everyday at 4pm) over south London coming in from JFK.
With an ever fast growing world...aircraft manufacturers need to build faster and more fuel efficient aircraft. The faster the world uses up all the oil, the faster they discover the Next Big Sustainable Energy product. We're (passengers) only dong our bit for the planet by putting the bets down for that! Photo taken from a BA A321 as we landed on the southern runway at Heathrow. It's always a sheer delight to fly over Central London while making the final approach to London Heathrow Airport...best view in town...takes about 5 minutes to land from this point...but takes 2 HOURS to get back home to Dulwich. One of the advantages of flying out of Heathrow (especially if you are departing out of the easterly runways') is that you get treated to some marvelous views of the capital (weather and visibility prevailing!). Though it must be said that with a take-off speed of around 250 knots/287mph (and increasing!), and an increasing altitude, it doesn't offer hope that the views will last for long- especially as it takes only around 6 minutes to get from Heathrow to the other side of London! The views never fail to captivate (camera ready at hand, I even managed to get a photo of my home as we flew over it for a final goodbye!) |
Get in Touch:LIFE MATTERSHere I share my thoughts
and experiences during my travels, and how some things have affected my life as an expat and world traveller. Travelling is about capturing that moment in life. Every word, view and opinion on this page is that of Navjot Singh - except where indicated. The most recent is at the top. Scroll down to read the archive. Or search using CTRL+F (COMMAND + F) and enter a keyword to search the page. Just some of the stories you never heard before. The NAVJOT-SINGH.COM web blog is separate to this web site....Click blog, which may not be visible in some countries due to local firewall restrictions, so in those cases this weblog may be read. The weblog also includes some of my press trip reports- most of which are not published on the official blog because of copyright issues. The weblog also contains articles that may be associated directly with a PR trip for a country, airline or a hotel. These are PR reviews done in relations with various companies. If you are an investor or a trend watcher then you may find this website useful as investing has a lot to do with personal observations and finding the ideal trend or next big thing. The average human on the street frequently knows far more about the state of the economy than politicians, university professors, subject matter experts, and financial analysts who seldom travel, or if they do so, only from one hotel to another hotel! The pulse and vibrancy of an economy is nowhere more visible than on a country's streets. All photos and words are © Navjot Lauda unless stated. Photos taken by others or by agencies are appropriately copyrighted under the respective name. No photo or word/s may be taken without the prior written permission by the author (i.e. Navjot Lauda). All Rights Reserved. Archives
December 2024
Categories
All
|