The Times They are a Changin’

There was a loner with a grudge or a fanatic with a political cart to push and at the core they just wanted some attention. They were a genuine threat, but there were strategies and countermeasures that generally kept their impact to a minimum. And then came 9/11.

With total surprise and deadly precision our world changed. Any conventions that had characterised the conduct of air travel were thrown out the window. The miracle of flight was now a missile and it could be used to change the world in all the wrong ways. Before the second tower in New York had fallen, the world’s televisions were tuned to the tragedy and the internet blinked updates by the second.

In its wake, 9/11 left a new world. Terrorism had reared its ugly head on a grand scale and airports and flightdecks flung their barriers up with speed and steel. Armed personnel around the world were commonplace and when the ‘shoe bomber’ made his failed attempt, tensions rose even more and the walls rose even higher.

Tension was a fact of life for some as body scanners and pat-downs created even more obstacles for the air traveller. It seemed that a form of transport that had once been the pinnacle of the industrial age had become a battlefield and much of the fun and excitement had disappeared. Then, when we thought we had seen it all, MH370 disappeared, seemingly without a trace.

As vessels trawled the oceans for ‘pings’ being emitted from the Boeing’s black box, no one could even readily define the search area. There had been no mayday calls, no floating debris and none of the final phone calls that had emerged from 9/11. All that could be found were questions, misinformation and pointless speculation. Nations combined their efforts and expended vast amounts of money and manpower to no avail. Now travellers had an unknown enemy to add to the face of terrorism. Or was it terrorism? Nobody could say for sure.

As governments, IATA, ICAO and its member states pondered the ramifications of a vanishing airliner, they set about preventing such an event ever recurring. Satellite tracking and other proposals were being pursued at the highest levels as the search for MH370 petered out and drifted from the headlines. And then the unthinkable happened.

By the cruellest twist of fate another Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 fell from the sky. However, this time there were radar plots and wreckage. It had seemingly been blown from the sky as it flew above the conflict in the Ukraine. Its shattered frame now lay in pieces amid a battlefield that was loathe to give up its clues. The investigators’ efforts to piece together the full story were repeatedly thwarted by gunfire and hostility. Once again the governing bodies and stakeholders in the world’s airways were thrust together to find answers and this time to the backdrop of ferocious global politics. The definition of safe airspace was now in question and the risk assessment policies of airlines came into the crosshairs. Policies that were once backroom decisions suddenly became everyone’s business and passengers began to question which countries they were flying over. Safety, politics, commercial considerations and war zones were thrown together into a volatile mix.

Aviation was once again in the headlines and once again it was for all of the wrong reasons. Cruelly, it was another something that was beyond the scope of aircrews and airlines. Disappearing jets, tumbling twin towers and surface-to-air-missiles were never in the script when the pioneers had their visions of a world brought closer together through flight. On the back of SARS, avian flu and the like one wonders where it will end.

At every twist of fate aircrews read the newspapers and ready themselves for new procedures or processes. They will train for a new set of eventualities and their aircraft may be retrofitted with new tools for the new threats. Ultimately, the headlines will fade again and the new measures will become commonplace. But another step in the process means another cost for airlines and ultimately the paying passenger.

Even as MH17 still smouldered in the Ukraine other tragedies were taking place in the airline industry. Such a barrage of gloom had one and all wondering what was coming next. Despite the overwhelming statistics of the safety of air travel, the news bulletins did not support the facts.

The dust has still not settled, but airlines are reviewing their routes and policies and the authorities are sitting down at the round table once more. The task at hand must seem overwhelming for the moment. Still, with no answers relating to MH370, the security of global airways and the very definition of airspace have become pressing agenda items. There are no quick fixes to be found and knee-jerk responses aren’t well received in aviation. Even so, the normally slow-moving ICAO has been somewhat more rapid, marshalling its troops to Montreal to discuss aviation safety.

In a near perfect storm, the airlines have sought to address the issues and meet the requirements this new circumstance has delivered. Some are regulated and some are self-imposed in the interests of safety. At the coalface, each day their crews sign on for duty despite the hysteria and search for the right words to provide rational responses to the growing list of questions from families and friends.

These tragic events will ultimately change the way the industry is conducted and the way that aircraft are flown, just as they did in the wake of 9/11. If nothing else, aviation and its people are resilient, even when they’re bombarded by bad news. What will the airways and airlines look like a decade from now? Who can say? Just cast your mind back to the 1990s and the landscape even then was very different. The only real certainty is that nothing stays the same for very long and more challenge is undoubtedly waiting in the wings.