[RM Motorsports]

Gaurav Taneja, a youtuber / vlogger famously known as Flying Beast and also a commercial pilot was recently suspended by AirAsia for raising his voice against practices that endanger the safety of the aircraft and passangers.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/76394780.cms

Besides being one of the biggest YouTube stars of the country, Taneja is an IIT-Kharagpur Civil engineering graduate and works professionally as a commercial airline pilot, having previously worked with IndiGo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSuDRcu15H0

In the video, Gaurav Taneja raised objections against the unethical leave policies of AirAsia and revealed that they make the pilots operate under ill-health, thereby putting the lives of hundreds of passengers on-board in danger. A pilot must be in his best shape when he steps in the cockpit but according to Taneja, pilots were forced to work even when not fully fit.

Taneja had joined the AirAsia India airline in April last year and soon noticed big loopholes in the airline’s safety & security systems. Taneja iterated that he took his grievances through the proper channels but soon the airline and its staff started becoming hostile towards him.

The second issue Taneja mentioned in his video was the following of safety precautions set by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Government of India in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic for the airline carriers. According to Taneja, “AirAsia did not follow the ‘COVID-19’ safety precautionary measures.”

As a result, he was subjected to unnecessary lifestyle assessments by the safety board of the Airline. The airline wanted to dub him as a liability for frequently pointing out problems and not ‘doing his job’ quietly.

The third and final safety issue Taneja mentioned in his video was the landing module. An aircraft can land in two configurations, Flap 3 which saves fuel (approx. 8kg), and Flap Full which burns more fuel but guarantees a safe landing.

AirAsia demanded 98% Flap 3 landings from its pilots, even if it meant risking the lives of passengers. Gaurav Taneja who undertook 10 landings in March said that owing to the steep and difficult conditions in Imphal, he used the flap-full configuration, the two times he landed there.

Taneja mentioned that he was accused of having 71 percent Flap 3 landings and not meeting the requirements set by the airline. Taneja further added that not meeting the requirement meant demerit points being automatically added in the pilot’s account which ultimately leads to slashed bonuses at the end of the year.

According to him the "SAB CHALTA HAI" attitude in Indian Aviation sector is a DISASTER waiting to happen.

How safe are Indian Airlines ?? Any pilots / aviation experts please share your thoughts.

Source

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by RM Motorsports

Gaurav Taneja, a Youtuber / vlogger famously known as Flying Beast and also a commercial pilot was recently suspended by AirAsia for raising his voice against practices that endanger the safety of the aircraft and passangers.

Thankfully DGCA has taken cognizance of the matter, as revealed by this tweet:



Also he has come to the notice of another famous Whistle blower, Dr. Subramanian Swamy:



Hope the DGCA and Air Asia take this in good spirit and work on fixing the safety lapses, rather than brushing the matter under the carpet.

Regards,
Shashi

[bluevolt]

I follow his vlogs and always had this apprehension that someone from the airline's management might not be happy him doing vlogging while doing his pilot duties (Earnings from vlogging can be as much as an pilot's salary). The previous airline was not having an issue but I believe Air Asia management might have some issue due to his vlogging and that's why they started picking up things with Gaurav. For sure there will be some issues or flight safety standards that Air Asia might not be following, but pilots in command draft issues in the notes before taking over an aeroplane for flight.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by RM Motorsports

Gaurav Taneja, a Youtuber / vlogger famously known as Flying Beast and also a commercial pilot

Taneja iterated that he took his grievances through the proper channels but soon the airline and its staff started becoming hostile.

The airline wanted to dub him as a liability for frequently pointing out problems and not ‘doing his job’ quietly.

AirAsia demanded 98% Flap 3 landings from its pilots, even if it meant risking the lives of passengers.

According to him the "SAB CHALTA HAI" attitude in Indian Aviation sector is a DISASTER waiting to happen.

I've been going through his vlogs since end- March 2020 and appreciate his nonchalance in his vlogs.

Here are my thoughts on the issue:

1. I don't know how scrupulously regulations are followed in this company - most employees comply, some use workarounds, while a handful who complain are highlighted.

2. No pilot would deliberately burn more fuel, especially after being sensitized on this; the decision to do a Flaps 3 landing or a full flaps landing is best left to the Captain and it is absurd to have KRAs around that

3. Capt.Taneja's was the only flight to have landed in a dust storm in Delhi sometime in June last year when all other flights diverted to alternate airports. Was he given due credit for executing a skilful landing?

Now, playing the devil's advocate:

1. No company would appreciate resistance to or non- compliance with its policies. No policy is perfect and one has to align or depart.

2. In one of his vlogs of last month, the issue of him losing his job was highlighted; vlogs should not feature any content that can, even indirectly, bring disrepute to a company or an individual.

3. In his vlog that is also featured in the opening post here, it was stated that he wasn't in a condition to fly on 7th and he informed the company on 7th that he can't report for his flight. The company in turn asked him to roster for a flight on 9th, his original off, to which he did not agree.

I've operated plants round the clock and have never made a fuss around duty rosters.

In this case he should have agreed to take an off on 7th, fly on 9th and not make an issue citing sick leave policies. Even if these days of sick leave go abegging, they should be let go of.

4. The vlog also states that he had to delay his flight of 23rd by 40 mins due to certain non - compliances, but then goes on to state that he refused to fly on 24th - that is not done.

Report for duty, then raise and issue; staying away doesn't work.

In the end, I associate commercial flying with a great sense of duty akin to the Armed Forces. One should be ready 24 x 7 to respond to the call of duty, and not cite personal engagements as excuses for not reporting. At the end of the day, passengers are affected by such acts.

An apology asked for by the company is definitely not warranted but this issue can be easily sorted out through discussions instead of both sides being stubborn.

[fhdowntheline]

The issue of Flaps-3 vs Flaps-Full is very interesting. It is also shocking that pilots are measured against a target- although I would take this with a pinch of salt because the airline may be able to prove "legally" that these targets are not mandated on paper. What this vlog will also trigger is an internal "cleanup" by other airlines too in case there are any gaps.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by RM Motorsports

Gaurav Taneja, a Youtuber / vlogger famously known as Flying Beast and also a commercial pilot was recently suspended by AirAsia for raising his voice against practices that endanger the safety of the aircraft and passengers.

How safe are Indian Airlines ?? Any pilots / aviation experts please share your thoughts.

I cannot comment on each point he has made as some are too granular or context based and I do not know to what extent personal career grievances are playing a part here. If my employee put out a video disparaging the company then I'd sack him too which is different from paying heed to the feedback. I do not fly Air Asia in India or abroad ever or permit my family to do so. The professional style & practices I've seen worry me enough to take this call. The management in Malaysia has an overly aggressive attitude, in my personal opinion, towards its employees, customers & maintenance. I cannot understand why the Tata's continue to be invested 51% in this airline when the management is run by Air Asia from Malaysia. Sunil Bhaskaran the new CEO is the first Tata man to run the airline which is just as well. I hope he can bring the much needed changes. Earlier Air Asia Berhad, Malaysia had puppet CEOs from the fashion and credit card industry!!!!

Indian carriers especially the large ones are relatively good in terms of flight safety. In fact attitude to flight safety and willingness to stand up is way better than in many parts of SE Asia, Korea, all of Africa barring South Africa, Russia and its erstwhile states, most of the Middle East barring Emirates & El Al and all of South America. I'd rate Indigo, Vistara and Air India as fully satisfactory* and Go Air as coming up behind. I can't comment on Spicejet and my views on Air Asia are in the para above.

*In flight safety, 'fully satisfactory' is up there. You don't use words such as fantastic, excellent etc.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by RM Motorsports

Gaurav Taneja, a Youtuber / vlogger famously known as Flying Beast and also a commercial pilot was recently suspended by AirAsia for raising his voice against practices that endanger the safety of the aircraft and passangers.
...
In the video, Gaurav Taneja raised objections against the unethical leave policies of AirAsia and revealed that they make the pilots operate under ill-health, thereby putting the lives of hundreds of passengers on-board in danger. A pilot must be in his best shape when he steps in the cockpit but according to Taneja, pilots were forced to work even when not fully fit.

He also has another Youtube channel called Fit Muscle TV which is how he initially got famous. As for the second point, I'd also like to hear the airlines side. There is no way they did not know his Youtube presence and him making a video on being fired was totally expected.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by RM Motorsports

In the video, Gaurav Taneja raised objections against the unethical leave policies of AirAsia and revealed that they make the pilots operate under ill-health, thereby putting the lives of hundreds of passengers on-board in danger. A pilot must be in his best shape when he steps in the cockpit but according to Taneja, pilots were forced to work even when not fully fit..

I have mentioned this on some of our other aviation threads. These days with quite a few carriers, pilots are on individual contracts and some only get paid when they actually fly, so in essence paid by flying hour. Pilots must do a self assessment prior to every flight whether they are fit to fly. If you have a big mortgage, putting kids through college, maybe financially support parents and are paid by the hour, that will have a detrimental effect on your decision making whether you are fit to fly.

Originally Posted by RM Motorsports

The third and final safety issue Taneja mentioned in his video was the landing module. An aircraft can land in two configurations, Flap 3 which saves fuel (approx. 8kg), and Flap Full which burns more fuel but guarantees a safe landing.

The purpose of flaps is simply put reduce take off / landing speeds. (there is some other stuff, but this is what it practically means. There is not a “safe” flap setting. You choose the flap setting that gets you the landing speed you need for that particular runway and conditions. You can land (or take off for that matter) perfectly safe without the use of flaps at all. But you are going to need a very long runway and much higher speeds over the grounds. Sometimes that becomes a problem for the tyres!

So maximum flaps, will give you the shortest landing distance. But more flap also increase drag, so you might burn a little more fuel. So as long as you are within all normal operating procedures, you tend to go for a little less flap.


How safe are Indian Airlines ?? Any pilots / aviation experts please share your thoughts.[/quote]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

For sure there will be some issues at flight safety standards that Air Asia might not be following as a pilot in command, they draft issues in the notes before taking over an aeroplane for flight.

Not sure what you mean, could you elaborate please?

Originally Posted by vigsom

I've operated plants round the clock and have never made a fuss around duty rosters.

In the end, I associate commercial flying with a great sense of duty akin to the Armed Forces. One should be ready 24 x 7 to respond to the call of duty, and not cite personal engagements as excuses for not reporting. At the end of the day, passengers are affected by such acts..

I think you have way to romantic notion of pilots. They are just like you and me. They put their pants on one leg at a time. Plenty of jobs that take far more and longer education and are more stress full than being a pilot. At the end of the day it is just a job. So like many of us, you need to be able to balance life / work.

It is not uncommon for pilots to work according to different roster status. So you are rostered to fly, you are rostered to be on stand by (which means you need to be able to report to a specific airport quickly) or you are off. Most rosters are pretty much fixed weeks in advance, certainly for regular airlines flying normal flights.

Counting on having your day off is normal for any human being I would say. Sure, some of us would show up for work when called and all credit for that. But the norm needs to be you should not have to.

Jeroen

[norhog]

https://youtu.be/RddrLUuzOx4

There was a crash before due to some maintenance issues.

[vigsom]

^^ This incident was what made me lose faith in the airline; like how I don't regard Air France as anything great.

I also have noticed that loud colours and too many captions on the aircraft is just an indicator of talking more and doing less.

Emirates and EY also sport captions, but only to commemorate events, and not always.

[Leoshashi]

His latest video on this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thB8zaxgWrU

[low_rider]

Airlines across the world are trying to save costs wherever they can. This flap rule must be an outcome of that. Earlier also, it was in the news that pilots were complaining about airlines giving them just enough fuel to them to be able to land. If they were to divert or go around a couple of times, they risked running out of fuel. Airlines gave an explanation that modern systems use computerised calculation for fuel and hence precise quantity is dispensed.

Even in railways, especially the trains used in metro railways, there is a measurement of electricity consumption by the driver, who is expected to optimise the motoring and braking curve and not waste electricity. Not sure if it is strictly enforced now, but I know a few cases where advisories and trainings on this was issued to staff in Delhi Metro during initial days when trains were running in manual mode.

Coming to safety matters, it is a cost and everyone wants to cut corners. Right from the way pilot licenses are "distributed" across flying schools in Philippines, Mexico and other 3rd world countries to clearing of the DGCA's exam, it is a free for all. For rostering, you always need to keep buffer staff (leave reserve) to accomodate weekly offs and leaves, but adequate number of such staff are not available usually, resulting in cancellation of weekly offs and leaves and inadequate rest hours between duties.

Also, the regulators play into the hands of airlines. A simple example is random alcohol tests on pilots. I still cannot understand what stops the regulator to enforce alcohol test on 100% of pilots reporting for duty. There were also efforts to increase the weekly and monthly limit of flying hours of pilots.

The problem is not just on the airline side. Even the ATCs are understaffed resulting in cancellation of weekly offs and leaves and working without adequate rest.

In the end, every employee-employer dispute boils down to demand and supply. Earlier there was shortage of pilots and airlines pampered them. With flying schools mushrooming and anyone with money getting a pilot license, the balance of power has tilted, even more with airlines shutting shop. Now we have more supply of pilots than demand and hence airlines have started a step motherly treatment.
Even in other industries, the in-demand skillsets are always the pampered child vs the oversupplied skills. E.g. in IT there was a time when Java people were pampered. Today they are poor cousins of pampered AI/Cybersecurity folks.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by low_rider

Airlines across the world are trying to save costs wherever they can. This flap rule must be an outcome of that. Earlier also, it was in the news that pilots were complaining about airlines giving them just enough fuel to them to be able to land. If they were to divert or go around a couple of times, they risked running out of fuel. Airlines gave an explanation that modern systems use computerised calculation for fuel and hence precise quantity is dispensed.

Fuel planning, i.e. how much fuel you take is regulated by at least three different mechanism. irrespective the two main parameters are trip fuel (the amount of fuel you need from your parking stand at you origin to the parking stand at your destination) and reserves.

1) Legal requirements
There are very strict rules on the minimum legal amount of fuel you need to take. It takes into account what kind of flight VFR versus IFR (Visual Flight Rules or Instrument Flight Rules) and how much fuel you still need to have onboard when you land at your destination (reserve) and or legally required alternates depending on your weather requirement etc. Note, the alternates (in case you can not land at your destination) could be a shorter or a longer distance than the original destination!)

The fuel planning does take things into consideration such as taxi times, winds aloft etc.

2) Company SOP
Most, if not all airlines have additional requirement on top of the legal requirements. They can never take less, only more. Big airliners have dispatch centre that figure out the routes, alternates and also do the fuel planning. They have access to very detailled information on the routes, the weather, the taxi times, how much delay on the ground in the air etc.

Some companies build in additional margins on the legal requirements. There is also a phenomena knows as tankering. Dispatch would also calculate where to get the cheapest fuel. So they might let you fill up 100% at your destination, just because the fuel is cheaper there than at the next airport. It requires some calculations, as the additional fuel also cost more fuel during the actual flight!

Have a look, well explained here: https://www.eurocontrol.int/sites/de...-tankering.pdf

3) Captain final decision
The captain always has the final say and can override the company dispatch, but he/she can never go below legal minimum. Experienced pilots know pretty well where dispatch figures might still not work optimally, so they can always ask for more fuel.

Airlines tend to keep track on how often and which pilots override dispatch calculations. Which is fine, as long as the pilot has good (safety) arguments any safety conscious airline would be fine with that. What you do want to check, if you have any pilots that consistently ask for more fuel than your dispatchers believe it’s necessary. That would need further investigations.

How airlines deal with these request is differently. In my opinion if the pilot asks for more fuel than dispatch calculated he/she such a request should be approved immediately. It can be questioned afterwards, but it should not be questioned prior to the flight in question. You don’t want a heated debate between dispatch and pilot prior a flight. Pilot’s call, deal with it after the flight has landed safely.

So airlines have the means to plan fuel meticulously and well within legal requirements. They might have additional requirements when it comes to fuel planning, but they can never take off with less fuel than the minimum requirements. All relevant parameters, weather enroute, weather at destination, various alternates, holds etc. etc. everything will have been taken into consideration to come up with the minimum fuel requirement.

Jeroen

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by low_rider

Earlier also, it was in the news that pilots were complaining about airlines giving them just enough fuel to them to be able to land. If they were to divert or go around a couple of times, they risked running out of fuel.

Dear Sir, as this is a public forum with lakhs of readers many of whom will get worried to read comments like this one please can you substantiate what you are stating with facts. Are there any notifications, internal emails or even media reports to back what you are stating.

Given the concern your statement could cause among our readers and given that Team BHP is a fact based forum I'll share with readers what fuel a commercial flight carries. The figures are directionally correct. Exact calculations would vary by airline and regulator.

(A) Trip Fuel - self explanatory. Also includes fuel burnt at the tarmac using the APU {auxiliary power unit}, taxing, waiting for take off.

(B) Contingency fuel - to address changes in wind or weather beyond what has already been planned for in (A) above.

(C) Hold & Diversion Fuel - to allow for missed landing attempts (one maybe two), holding at destination airport, fuel to fly to alternate airport, holding fuel for 30 minutes at both airports.

(D) Reserve Fuel - minimum fuel the aircraft must land with at the alternate airport after going through the diversion & hold and missed landings. Typically say 30 minutes of hold fuel burn

(E) Additional Fuel - any further top up the Captain believes in his/her sole discretion may be needed.

Coming to safety matters, it is a cost and everyone wants to cut corners. Right from the way pilot licenses are "distributed" across flying schools in Philippines, Mexico and other 3rd world countries to clearing of the DGCA's exam, it is a free for all.

Please could you share more details of what corners are being cut and where. Where there is substance I would like to alert the DGCA and MoCA.

For rostering, you always need to keep buffer staff (leave reserve) to accomodate weekly offs and leaves, but adequate number of such staff are not available usually, resulting in cancellation of weekly offs and leaves and inadequate rest hours between duties.

Which organizations are you referring to? - which countries.

Also, the regulators play into the hands of airlines. A simple example is random alcohol tests on pilots. I still cannot understand what stops the regulator to enforce alcohol test on 100% of pilots reporting for duty.

100% testing isn't done for the very same reasons that you don't have a traffic cop at every signal 24/7. You can't run an industry when every step must be inspected. Why stop at pilots and alcohol. Why not test everything every engineer does before clearing an aircraft for flight. The pilot is almost always as concerned about his life as he/she is of yours.

There were also efforts to increase the weekly and monthly limit of flying hours of pilots.

Please share facts.

[procrastinator]

After following his channel for over two years and understanding the situation, here’s my take on him.

1. He had problems with management due to one or the other issue.
It starts with leaves. He has taken sick leaves with weekly offs. Air Asia asked him to report on off day and he’s not happy.
His leaves coincided with vlogs where he could be observed healthy on screen.

I guess the management lost trust with him after watching Vlogs.
Air Asia India is cheap airlines. This is my observation after travelling with them multiple times.
His sick leave and off day must have worked at Indigo.

2. Safety guidelines for COVID-19 are described at higher level. As he has documented it on the flying day which will reach DGCA, I guess he will reveal more details once enquiry is done.

3. If he feels airline goal of 98% flap3 landings is lame and airline management does not understand safety risk, it is a sign to choose better employer OR report it to DGCA!

An observation from his Vlogs that some of his words are plotted against Air Asia.
He mentioned about financial crisis and monthly payment delay on property but bought an iPhone 11 Pro. It was unplanned purchase after his daughter broke the iPhone 11. He completed a home gym setup recently.

What I understand from his videos is that there has been quarrels between him and management in past. He used the channel having 29Lacs + Subscribers to fetch attention.
Leaving aside #3 which should be fixed by airlines and had to be reported,
The Rest of them can be sorted out with airlines. If they don’t understand, take proofs and file a report with DGCA
OR
To avoid hassles and disputes, change the employer - airlines.
We all know - Air Asia is a cheap airline.