Great news this past week regarding the re-opening of the great State of Alaska to include the capitol of its aviation industry, Anchorage!
However, as the State’s aviation industry starts to regain its footing, Alaskan operators will have to make some changes in the way in which business will be conducted.
As was tragically demonstrated this past weekend in another country, required levels of aircraft airworthiness and pilot proficiency cannot merely be “assumed” to exist after extended periods of inactivity. Meaning, an airline cannot merely be “re-started” by the push of a button or management’s best intended hopes for the best.
Alaskan operators would be well advised to update and enhance their legacy safety management programs to now include matters of health, hygiene, and contagion. SOPs of the past will, quite literally, have to be “scrubbed”. Operational and technical requirements will now have to be harmonized with new health guidance, local, state, and federal regulations, as well as industry best practices to ensure the ongoing well-being of customers and employees alike.
While the storm maybe passing, and rainbows of hope and prosperity are coming into view, the brutally honest reality is that the global aviation industry, especially within Alaska, will never be quite the same. When aviation in Alaska is “shut-down”, so goes the economy of the State as demonstrated by the recent bankruptcy of the State’s largest regional airline.
As the summer season arrives, Alaskan operators must do everything in their power (recognizing the significant restraints on available capital) to restore the public’s confidence in the State’s air transportation system. Not only within the major cities, but equally important to the many Villages who depend upon aviation to sustain their very existence safely and reliably.
At the end of the rainbow, we now have the distinct opportunity to turn this pandemic tragedy into an incredible learning experience so as to come back even stronger than before and never be so unprepared for this type of unthinkable occurrence in the future.
Best wishes to our friends and business associates for the timely and sustainable resurgence of the Alaskan aviation industry!