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Video answers: Running out of pilots

Here are the answers to last Friday’s video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. A person needs a university qualification, a private pilot’s licence, a commercial pilot’s licence, 265 flight hours, an ATPL licence and then around an extra 1500 flight hours.
  2. To accumulate these hours pilots work as flight instructors, fly skydiving planes, tow banners or work for airlines flying small single-engine planes.
  3. Usually their financial situation is difficult, with large debts to pay and a low salary.
  4. Getting to and from the airport, passing through security, attending the briefing, inspecting and preparing the aircraft, boarding passengers, deplaning passengers, packing up filing paperwork all form part of a pilot’s routine in addition to just flying the plane.
  5. More senior pilots want to fly international flights because they accumulate more flight hours per flight than domestic pilots and have more free days as a result.
  6. Emirates flew 46 planes to Dubai World Central Airport and left the planes there for months because they didn’t have enough pilots to fly them.
  7. Large American carriers have needed to fast-track younger pilots through the system earlier in order to keep their pilot numbers up.
  8. Regional airlines have needed to cancel routes as a result, even though they were likely profitable.
  9. The idea to increase automation to the point where only one or less pilots are needed has drawn a lot of criticism.
  10. The industry could help stop the decline in pilot numbers by making the cost of training much lower.

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Video: Running out of pilots

This week’s video reports on the declining number of pilots in the world and why it’s happening.

Try to answer the following questions about the video and come back on Monday for the answers.

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

Continue reading Video: Running out of pilots
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Video answers: Why are jumbos disappearing?

Here are the answers to last Friday’s video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. It rectified the problem of increased intercontinental traffic.
  2. They wanted to be economical because they believed that the future of aviation would be supersonic jets and didn’t want to lose a lot of money on their investment.
  3. To make the plane more likely to be a success, they designed it to be both a passenger jet and a cargo jet.
  4. The first reason that jumbos are disappearing is that it’s expensive to operate and maintain four engines.
  5. The second reason that jumbos are disappearing is that aviation nowadays is becoming more of a point-to-point system instead of a hub-and-spoke one.
  6. It cost €25 billion euro and will never be recovered according to the video.
  7. They want more flights at different times of day instead of bigger aircraft with less frequency.
  8. It works for Emirates due to Dubai’s geographic location as a hub which connects different parts of the world.
  9. The 747 will slowly disappear as a passenger plane (but not as a freighter), while the A380 could survive if the industry returns to a hub-and-spoke system.

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Video: Why are jumbos disappearing?

This week’s video describes the role of jumbo jets in aviation and why they are disappearing from the skies.

Try to answer the following questions about the video and come back on Monday for the answers.

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. What problem did the 747 rectify?
  2. Why did Boeing want to be economical in the building of the 747?
  3. So what did they do to be economical?
  4. What’s the first reason these jumbos are disappearing?
  5. What’s the second reason these jumbos are disappearing?
  6. How much was the development of the A380 and will it ever be recovered according to the video?
  7. What do business passengers want nowadays?
  8. Why does the A380 work for Emirates?
  9. What’s the future for these two planes?

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Have a great weekend!

Why are the Jumbo-jets disappearing?

Thanks to our sponsor: https://brilliant.org/mentourpilot/ Why are the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380 loosing ground against competing aircraft types? Why aren’t these majestic giants of the sky ruling like they once were and what does the future look like for them. These are some of the questions I will cover in this video.

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Video answers: How airports make money

Here are the answers to last Friday’s video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. It’s privately owned so the government doesn’t own it.
  2. The break even point for per passenger revenue at Heathrow is $19 per passenger, or to put it another way, if Heathrow earns $19 per passenger that passes through the airport, they will be able to pay for their costs.
  3. Departing and connecting passengers are more valuable because they have more time to shop.
  4. Passengers spend most at retail stores, which earns Heathrow $5.15 per passenger.
  5. They spend more money because the airport encourages it by requiring passengers to pass through duty free shops before reaching their gates and also by not posting gate number until 45 minutes before a flight, which encourages passengers to stay in the central areas with shops. Finally, because Heathrow has many long-haul flights and a greater proportion of long-haul passengers are wealthier, they naturally spend more money.
  6. The average flight costs $9,500.
  7. On average it receives $29 per ticket.
  8. Because Heathrow needs bigger planes to make more money, it tries to encourage that, as a result it’s poorly connected to other domestic airports around the country.
  9. Most airports lose money because they’re government run and not very focused on making money.
  10. They do this because they see airport connections as having a positive economic benefit that they wouldn’t have without the discount for airlines.

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Video: How airports make money

This week’s video describes how airports make money and why some are more profitable than others.

Try to answer the following questions about the video and come back on Monday for the answers.

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. Who owns Heathrow airport?
  2. What is the break even point for per passenger revenue at Heathrow airport?
  3. Which kinds of passengers are more valuable?
  4. Where in the airport do passengers spend most money?
  5. Why do passengers spend more money at Heathrow airport than at other airports?
  6. What is the average cost for a flight which lands at Heathrow?
  7. What amount of a passenger’s ticket price does Heathrow receive?
  8. What aspect of Heathrow’s operation has a negative impact on domestic flights?
  9. Why do most airports lose money?
  10. Why do smaller airports charge airlines less than it costs to operate the airport?

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Have a great weekend!

How Airports Make Money

Watch the video I made for Squarespace: https://youtu.be/h3wWyaWpRtY Check out my new personal channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDA1X6RrhzZQOHOGvC3KsWg Get the Wendover Productions t-shirt: https://standard.tv/collections/wendover-productions/products/wendover-productions-shirt Subscribe to Half as Interesting (The other channel from Wendover Productions): https://www.youtube.com/halfasinteresting Support Wendover Productions on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wendoverproductions Youtube: http://www.YouTube.com/WendoverProductions Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/WendoverPro Email: sam@wendover.productions Reddit: http://Reddit.com/r/WendoverProductions Animation by Bard