8 Things Your Airline Does to Keep You Safe While You Fly (That you probably didn’t even know)
There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than you realize.
1. Preflight Inspections
Ground crews, security crews, maintenance teams, cleaning staff, pilots, and flight attendants all do their share of inspecting the aircraft prior to every single departure. With so many eyeballs on the plane prior to push back, it’s highly unlikely for something serious to go missed.
You’ve probably noticed the pilot doing their preflight walk-around wearing their bright safety vest, checking the entire exterior of the aircraft. They are required by compnany policy to perform this check prior to every single flight to look for anything that might be out of place.
Flight attendants ensure that the cabin is secure and ready to accept passengers, checking that all the required safety equipment is ready to go in a worst case scenario.
2. Flight Dispatch and Tracking
A team of specially certified employees called dispatchers track the progress of the flight, weather, delays, airspace shutdowns, and much more from a central location (typically near company headquarters) all day long. Using data links, they stay in constant communication with the flight from start to finish.
They are responsible for filing the flight plans with air traffic control and for creating a large document called a dispatch release that details everything the pilots need to know to safely complete the flight. In addition, dispatchers determine how much fuel the plane needs to safely fly to their destination, divert, and land at a potential alternate.
The pilots and dispatchers work closely as a team to monitor changing weather, passenger delays, and many other factors that affect the safety of the flight. In fact, legally, the dispatcher shares an equal responsibility for the preflight planning and safety of flight as the pilots do.
3. Performance Calculations
Prior to takeoff for every flight, the flight crew either manually or digitally calculates the required engine performance and maximum weight that they can takeoff with in order to safely clear any obstacles after takeoff. They take into account the current weather conditions, available runway, elevation, and more.
Even if an engine should fail, the manufacturers of the aircraft have demonstrated that their aircraft are able to safely liftoff and climb high enough on one engine to clear all obstacles. In fact, the situation is so well trained that to most pilots that it’s almost a non-event should it happen in real life.
Airlines also work with 3rd party companies to ensure that every flight can safely divert to an alternate airport should an engine fail at any point during the flight. They do this by analyzing terrain clearance and aircraft capability along the entire route of flight to see what potential hazards need to be avoided. If needed, they may limit the amount of weight that an aircraft can depart with based on these considerations, or even adjust the routing of the flight to be closer to alternate fields.
4. Continuing Qualification for Pilots and Flight Attendants
Every year, all flight crew members undergo mandatory training and re-qualification to ensure that they are up to snuff on proper company policy and emergency procedures. No matter how good they perform on the job, all crews are required to undergo this mandatory training and certification every year.
Any sort of re-training or failures during these exams go on the permanent records of the pilots. They’re definitely not allowed to learn it one day for the test and forget it the next.
5. Data Tracking
Don’t like having a person watching your every move? Too bad. Aircraft flight data recorders constantly monitor every move the pilots make and store them permanently on their hard drives.
In the interest of catching minor problems and deviations before they become major ones, airlines analyze all flight data of their flight crews and look for alarming trends or other safety & efficiency related problems.
If the company finds something that they don’t like or has a question about, the pilot will receive a call asking them to explain why they did what they did.
6. Line Checks
So you’re a pilot who just finished their intensive training after 2 months of studying and emergency training, thinking that it was finally safe to relax? Think again.
You now have to undergo a series of observations by special captains “blessed” by the FAA (Sky Police) to watch how you perform while actually flying “the line” with passengers in the back. They’ll judge your every move to see if everything is kosher with company policy. They’re watching to see just how comfortable you are working during normal day to day operations.
They also make sure that you’re familiar with some small differences between operating in the simulator and operating the actual aircraft, although there don’t tend to be that many.
7. Regular Required Maintenance
This one goes without saying, but aircraft recieve A LOT of maintenance. Government required annual checks, daily checks, monthly checks, and more must be performed on time in order for the aircraft to be operated legally.
Even when things do break down, aircraft are designed to function safely due to massive amounts of redundancy in critical systems.
8. Random FAA Ride-Alongs
Besides company examinations, the sky police (FAA) also think that it’s a good idea to pop in unannounced and sit up in the flight deck with pilots to observe their compliance with company policy and procedures. Think of this as having a random driving license test with a cop sitting in the right seat, looking for any excuse to bust you.
While the pilots might be sweating bullets the entire flight trying not to lose their certificates to the sky cops, you as the passenger can rest assured that they are trying their very best to keep you safe and sound.
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