Over the last year, large numbers of pilot were evicted from their jobs. Those that remained suffered issues with their cognitive functions or general health.
Mechanics, Engineers and Controllers were also decimated in number due to the downturn in travel as well as vaccine mandates.
Now, with countries and travel opening up, the flight industry is being stretched to the limits. A scan in the news for flight incidents reveals an unusual number of strange occurrences.
According to Heinrich's pyramid, every 300 near misses would result in 30 minor accidents, which would result in 1 serious accident.
Please don't travel. Stay home with your loved ones. Don't get on a plane.
We opted to rent a van and drive this year for this very reason. That and we didn't want to get stranded because of canceled flights due pilot shortage.
Air travel may be statistically riskier now than before. But drivers are affected by the vax too. MY hunch is that flying is now even safer relative to driving now. They have two pilots and the planes can be flown remotely if need be.
The hassle of rescheduled flights, true.
For us it was definitely more about cancelations which are an indirect result of issues with the clot shot. Ended up being 1/4 the cost for a family of 5 to rent the van rather than fly.