A number of civil aviation initiatives to accelerate industry recovery
It takes a few steps to return the aircraft with the "pause button" to the blue sky
As the domestic epidemic prevention and control has become normalized, the civil aviation industry has accelerated its recovery, and the engine protection covers of aircraft have been removed, and they have returned to the blue sky one after another.
As the domestic epidemic prevention and control situation is getting better, civil aviation personnel take care of idle aircraft carefully to ensure the safety of each voyage, and at the same time accelerate the pace of recovery of the civil aviation industry through a number of measures, and strive to make idle aircraft "busy" again. stand up.
For the global civil aviation industry, the past two years have not been easy.
At the beginning of 2020, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has spread rapidly around the world, having a domino-like impact on the global passenger aircraft fleet. Due to the sharp decline in global air travel demand and the successive promulgation of entry restriction policies by various countries, the utilization rate of major airlines’ trunk airliners Decline rapidly.
In this case, global airlines have to cancel a large number of flights to control operating costs.
Statistics from the well-known data company Cirium show that in January last year, there were about 20,200 Airbus and Boeing mainline airliners in service. In April last year, when the epidemic prevention and control situation was the most severe, only 74 million mainline airliners were in service worldwide. Operation, the decline rate was close to 60%.
More importantly, due to the cancellation or rescheduling of a large number of flights, major airlines around the world have to park some passenger planes idle.
What used to be an "Airbus" has now become a "golden swallowing machine" lying on the ground.
"As an industry with heavy assets, high liabilities, high costs, and low profits, the civil aviation industry has huge operating costs. As the core assets of airlines, most of them are obtained through loans or leases." Associate Professor, School of Economics, Peking University Xue Xu analyzed, “For airlines, even if the plane is parked or not flying, there will be huge expenditures of more than 100 million yuan.”
Under this circumstance, how to ensure that the idle aircraft are in a healthy state of operation and find ways to make the idle aircraft "busy" have become an important issue for major airlines around the world.
As the domestic epidemic prevention and control situation is getting better, civil aviation personnel take care of idle aircraft carefully to ensure the safety of each voyage, and at the same time accelerate the pace of recovery of the civil aviation industry through a number of measures, and strive to make idle aircraft "busy" again. stand up.
Large airplanes also have a "health treasure"
During the critical period of last year's epidemic prevention and control, major domestic airlines in China reduced their flight numbers one after another.
However, unlike the global situation where “the parking problem of a large number of planes is highlighted, and more and more airports have become “parking airports”, the major domestic airlines have seized this “rest period” and used some of the planes to be grounded. In the neutral position, seal up, repair or modify the parked aircraft,
One of the key tasks of the technical company team of China Eastern Airlines (hereinafter referred to as "Eastern Airlines") is to wear wind and rain protection for the fuselage engine after necessary maintenance and maintenance of the aircraft according to the different storage requirements of different types of aircraft. Protective cover.
"The storage of aircraft is not a trivial matter." As an "aircraft doctor" who has been on the front line for a long time and has dealt with multiple aircraft types, Gou Junzhe, general manager of the technical aircraft maintenance department of China Eastern Airlines, told reporters that different types of aircraft are different. According to the storage requirements, only by "taking care" of the aircraft with high quality during the storage period, can the aircraft be in good operating condition during the follow-up go-around.
"Aircraft storage can be divided into three categories: short-term storage, short-term storage and long-term storage. The longer the aircraft is parked, the more work needs to be performed, mainly to avoid aircraft corrosion during parking and degradation of various battery performance. During the storage period, It is necessary to inspect and maintain the aircraft on a regular basis." Gou Junzhe said.
In order to maintain the aircraft with different storage periods in a more targeted manner, Gou Junzhe and China Eastern Airlines’ aircraft maintenance personnel have developed a special “storage work card” for 7-day inspection, 15-day inspection, 30-day inspection and more than 30 days. Regular maintenance.
For example, he said that for the aircraft that has been parked for a long time, the maintenance personnel of China Eastern Airlines also need to go around the aircraft every day to check whether there are foreign objects (such as bird nests) on the fuselage, and confirm that the safety pins, protective covers, plugs and red ribbons are not damaged. , Whether the aircraft wheel block and reflector are placed as required, whether the aircraft is moving, and at the same time confirm whether the engine protective cover is in place, there is no water vapor accumulation in the engine intake, and whether the aircraft has oil leakage.
"This summer there are many typhoons and heavy rains, and the number of aircraft on the ground is also large. We anticipated in advance and took adequate safeguard measures, including refueling and weight gain of some aircraft, and towing some aircraft to suitable positions for rigging. Stay." Gou Junzhe added.
In fact, while inspecting and maintaining the sealed aircraft, China Eastern Airlines’ maintenance personnel are still in a “race” against time. When faced with the key issue of “how to ensure the safe operation of flights and ensure the smooth travel of the majority of passengers when an epidemic occurs,” China Eastern Airlines The maintenance personnel decided to carry out a series of maintenance tasks such as disinfection of the entire cabin of the aircraft and replacement of all filter elements of the aircraft.
It is understood that since April 2020, the Pudong Maintenance Base of China Eastern Airlines has continued to carry out the post-flight disinfection work of replacing the cabin air filter of the entire aircraft and the aircraft cockpit. In the post-flight maintenance work of each flight, the crew will use Dedicated disinfection equipment eliminates and wipes frequently touched parts of the cockpit except instrument panels and other precision equipment. Over 500 aircraft cabin air filter replacements have been completed throughout the year to ensure the freshness and cleanliness of the air in the recirculation system. Safety and health of passengers and crew.
"To replace all the filter elements of an aircraft is to replace the air filter of the recirculation fan. It sounds simple, but it is not easy to do." Chen Qijie, deputy director of the third workshop of the Eastern Airlines Passenger Line Maintenance Department, said bluntly, "The operation of replacing the air filter in the small cargo compartment of the aircraft is very Inconvenience, not only must the impurities on the air filter remain in the air as little as possible, but also pay attention to every detail and do a good job of self-protection."
Chen Qijie recalled that because the air filter entrance of some models was blocked by the unit lounge, the lounge must be disassembled and removed every time it was replaced, and then the air filter was replaced. After the air filter was replaced, the lounge should be reset.
“It’s usually very difficult to do this in a small cargo hold, not to mention wearing protective clothing, wearing goggles, masks and gloves to work. The difficulty has been doubled. After replacing a set of Airbus 330 air filters, It will take two full hours." Chen Qijie said.
Although this work is not only dangerous, but also very test the physical strength and skills of the maintenance personnel, but with the efforts of Chen Qijie and his colleagues, China Eastern Airlines has completed more than 500 aircraft cabin air filter replacements throughout the year.
"Under everyone's careful maintenance, it only takes an average of 2-3 minutes, all the air in the cabin will be completely updated once, and the air quality in the cabin almost exceeds that of the operating room." Chen Qijie said proudly.
"Send the planes back to the sky one by one"
In the early spring of 2021, on the apron of Shanghai Pudong International Airport, the orange protective cover of an aircraft engine numbered B-303E was carefully taken off by Ma Wenjun and his friends from the Pudong Maintenance Base of Eastern Airlines Technology.
Subsequently, under the breathless gaze of these engineers, the aircraft battery was reconnected, the operation tests of the wing's rudder surfaces were completed in turn, and the airspeed tube and static pressure panel of the fuselage were checked normally.
Subsequently, the mechanical parts of the boarding gates and service gates were lubricated and sealed, and the aircraft was cleaned and towed to the designated location for trial run after obtaining the permission of the airport. After a set of procedures worked, nearly 10 hours have passed. .
At this point, the last plane of China Eastern Airlines that had stopped in Pudong due to the epidemic has been unblocked and officially put into flight operation guarantee.
Thanks to the improvement of the epidemic prevention and control situation, on the day of Lantern Festival this year, the domestic air passenger transport market ushered in a small peak in passenger flow.
Up to now, the average daily passenger flight volume of China Eastern Airlines has recovered to about 2,400.
As the domestic epidemic prevention and control became normal, the engine protective covers of one aircraft after another were taken off by civil aviation personnel and returned to the blue sky one after another.
China's civil aviation industry can quickly recover its vitality and rejuvenate in a short period of time. In addition to the good domestic epidemic prevention situation, it is inseparable from the many stimulating self-rescue measures of civil aviation personnel.
Among them, in addition to the well-known "fly as you wish" series of package activities and promotional air tickets, the "passenger-to-cargo" model has also become a new strategy to stimulate the recovery of the civil aviation industry.
"Passenger-to-cargo" means to modify the cabin of an aircraft to carry cargo.
In 2020, in response to the significant changes in the domestic and international air transport market during the epidemic prevention and control period, the demand for passenger transport has dropped sharply in the short term, while the demand for cargo has exploded. The Civil Aviation Administration issued a "passenger to cargo" notice to guide civil aviation companies in ensuring safety Under the premise of using passenger aircraft capacity to fly cargo flights, a large number of idle passenger aircraft capacity is effectively utilized, and the international aviation logistics needs are met in a timely manner.
"The'passenger-to-cargo' aircraft sounds like a simple removal of the cabin seats for loading, but in fact the modification technology involved is very complicated." Zhou Yi, the project leader in the structural repair workshop of China Eastern Airlines, told reporters, "Because of the cabin seats It also involves the corresponding entertainment system equipment and related electronic components. We must first remove the wiring harness that connects the seat and the aircraft floor entertainment system, and wrap the wiring harness reserved on the aircraft."
Zhou Yi introduced that after the task of disassembling the seats is completed, the crew must also perform buffering and anti-vibration protections on the remaining seats, the wire track of the floor, the sub-cabin partition and the side wall of the cabin.
And before the modified "freight plane" leaves the factory, the crew also needs to re-weigh the plane to determine the plane's center of gravity and ensure that the cargo is balanced.
"Many people say that the'passenger-to-cargo' aircraft is a bit like a'magic'. In fact, not only is the space doubled, but the safety factor must also be improved. The subsequent cushioning and anti-vibration protection work we have done is equivalent to putting a layer on the cabin. 'Protective clothing'." Zhou Yi said.
While major airlines are actively exploring the field of "passenger-to-aircraft conversion", airports across the country have also joined the "passenger-to-aircraft conversion" team.
It is understood that since February this year, Hangzhou Airport has been intensively opened for passenger-to-cargo changes and international and domestic all-cargo routes. The opening of three all-cargo routes within a week is the highest in history.
Data shows that Hangzhou Airport (except SF HUB) has 19 all-cargo airlines, including 17 international all-cargo airlines (18 destinations).
"The civil aviation industry is still in a period of recovery and growth. Generally speaking, the trend of'stability' has not changed. The foundation of'advance' has become firmer, but the factors of'change' still exist." At the Civil Aviation Administration of China's March press conference Last, Zhang Qing, deputy director of the Development Planning Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said that the Civil Aviation Administration will continue to coordinate and optimize the allocation of resources, promote the implementation of various supporting policies and measures introduced, and actively promote the steady recovery of the industry.
According to the plan, China's civil aviation industry will strive to restore the total annual transportation scale to more than 80% before the epidemic, the passenger transportation volume to about 90% before the epidemic, and the cargo and mail transportation volume to be basically the same as before the epidemic, and strive to reduce losses and increase profits for aviation companies.
It is worth mentioning that "the regional aviation of third- and fourth-tier cities" has become the focus of China's civil aviation industry in the future.
"Regional aviation is an important part of the civil aviation transportation service network." Yu Biao, Director of the Transportation Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said, "During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, regional aviation has achieved good development. The Civil Aviation Administration of the 14th Five-Year Plan will further Attach importance to the development of regional aviation, and expand the network coverage by building an air transportation network of'main-to-branch, all-networks', to meet the aviation travel needs of the people in the areas where small and medium-sized airports are located, and to serve the local economic and social development."
"My New Year's resolution is to safely send those planes grounded due to the epidemic back to the sky one by one." This is a paragraph written by a maintenance officer of a domestic airline in the circle of friends.
With the encouragement of many favorable policies and the joint efforts of all civil aviation personnel, this simple and heavy wish will be realized as soon as possible.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Zhang Zhenqi