Russia's Aeroflot asks its employees not to record aircraft malfunctions

According to reports by the independent Russian website Proekt, cited by Moscow Times, the Russian airline Aeroflot has asked its employees not to record any malfunctions of the aircraft in order to prevent them from being grounded.

Proekt collected testimonies from current and former Aeroflot employees, who allegedly confirmed the company's policy of letting planes take off even in the event of equipment problems.

As a former Aeroflot employee explains, this policy was introduced last spring "to prevent aircraft from being grounded due to a defect, which, according to regulations, prohibits the aircraft from flying until it is fixed." A policy which, according to another Aeroflot technician, is also common to other companies.

A former pilot of Nordwind Airlines, a company based in Moscow, spoke to the news outlet about an accident that occurred in January 2023 at Kazan airport, when a Boeing 737 began to lose fuel when the engines started. The pilot recalls: "It had happened several times before, but the airline management asked us not to record anything."

"The Russian attitude of betting on good luck also exists in aviation. Obviously, it’s frightening to fly on hope alone, but unfortunately, that’s what’s happening in many airlines in the country today," added the former pilot

Indeed, breakdowns, forced landings and a growing sense of insecurity seem to be the common factor for Russian airlines in recent months. The reason? The war and the sanctions imposed on Russia.

According to Russian news outlet 'Novaya Gazeta', the airlines are currently experiencing hardship, due to the lack of maintenance, technical assistance and a worrying shortage of spare parts, while aviation professionals’ concerns for safety keep growing.

'Novaya Gazeta' points out that Russian airlines depend, to a large extent, on Western-manufactured planes, which is why the blockade of companies such as Airbus or Boeing, both in technical support and in the supply of spare parts, is causing a serious problem.

The temporary solution airlines have found, per ‘Novaya Gazeta’, is to order generic parts such as wheels or brakes from other suppliers, but those parts are between 3-4 times more expensive than the original ones, they say.

The tricky thing is that Russian-made planes, like the Sukhoi Superjet 100 or the MS-21, also rely on foreign-made parts.

Fuel filters, for example, 'Novaya Gazeta' points out, are washed by the airlines and put back on the planes, hoping that they will last as long as possible, not being able to replace them with new ones.

Countries like the United Arab Emirates, China, Iran or Turkey are supplying some spare parts to Russian airlines but, in addition to being more expensive, they take much longer to reach Russian lands, according to 'Novaya Gazeta'.

And this parallel supply chain could have its days numbered as parts suppliers have begun to require these countries indicate the final destination of each part, including the tail number of the aircraft. This measure will not only complicate the supply to Russia, but also  make each piece even more expensive.

All of this has left Russian airlines increasingly dependent on government handouts. In 2022, the state spent around $4.5 billion propping up the industry, according to Serbian news outlet Politika. However, this could get even more expensive in a presumed second year of war.

Meanwhile, the war continues, the airlines continue to fly and Russian planes are increasingly unsafe, which is why the public is beginning to have certain qualms about flying, says 'Novaya Gazeta'.

‘Novaya Gazeta’ acknowledges that "since the beginning of 2023, reports of malfunctions, depressurizations or emergency landings have increased significantly."

The Russian media points to airlines such as "Aeroflot, Pobeda, Rossiya, Azur, UTair and others" as those involved in a problem that could worsen as the months go by.

Among the solutions that the Russian government is considering, would be an increase in the price of flights that would oscillate between 15-30%, that passengers would assume, and that would begin to be applied this summer, according to the aforementioned news outlet.

If we add the increase in the price of tickets, the insecurity and growing doubts of customers, it seems clear that Russian airlines are at serious risk.

However, according to Politika analysts, Russian aviation won’t disappear any time soon, as the country cannot be banished entirely from the global transportation system due to its size and geographic location, although they will struggle to stay afloat.

The West has too been impacted by Russia’s isolation, being deprived of convenient flight paths to Asia via Russian airspace, which is why, Politika analysts say, negotiations to restore cooperation may get underway at some point in the future.