Elevated levels of business aircraft flight activity prompted in part by ongoing Covid-related disruption to scheduled airline services have posed potential safety challenges for operators. While the experience has bolstered resilience in the business aviation community, according to Stan Medved, who chairs the safety committee of the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA), it has also prompted operators to take a fresh look at how they do things, he told the opening session of the group’s annual safety summit today. The conference had to be switched at short notice to an online event after Covid infection rates prevented it from being held in person in Cologne, Germany.
“In some cases, operators have been reinventing themselves, with some operators changing how they fly,” said Medved, who is also aviation director of the Shell Aviation flight department. “It’s meant new processes and procedures and now we’re looking at what we want to keep [after the pandemic].”
Officials from European aviation safety agency EASA told conference attendees that it is continuing to prioritize safety enhancement measures tailored to business aviation’s operational profile. EASA executive director Patrick Ky explained that to address the main identified areas of risk his team is focusing on topics such as enhanced minimum crew operations and landing distances.
This year, it has conducted trials to evaluate the case for reduced landing distances and next year expects to spell out requirements for implementing enhanced and synthetic vision systems using head-up displays. Dominique Renaud, EASA’s section manager for business jets, told attendees that this technology—as well as fuel management, landing proficiency, safety management system implementation, and flight crew training—will be a priority safety project for the agency.
According to EASA head of safety promotion John Franklin, the business aviation industry in Europe has come under pressure in the wake of Covid, with some companies working at a higher capacity than they are used to and at the same time dealing with staff shortages. He said that smaller airports, in particular, have found it hard to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of qualified personnel.
During 2022, EASA will continue to expand its “Ramp Up: Be Ready, Stay Safe” campaign to engage directly with business aircraft operators. More content is being added to ts community network platform to provide shared resources on topics such as crew well-being and updates on safety topics.