In the world of aviation, where trust in safety measures is paramount, the recent surge in technical faults reported by SriLankan Airlines has left frequent travellers grappling with a sense of uncertainty.
Among them is a Melbourne-based traveller, who, despite regularly shuttling between Melbourne and Sri Lanka, now harbours a newfound unease when boarding SriLankan Airlines flights.
“I used to prefer to travel with SriLankan Airlines every time, but lately, there is this unexplained feeling. A doubt lingers: will I land safely or not? The media coverage of technical faults has added an extra layer of concern,” the anonymous frequent flyer confided to The Sunday Morning.
This sentiment travelled across the terminals, where another passenger, eager to embark on a journey from the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) to Chennai, India, found patience tested beyond limits. Waiting for more than three hours, the passenger lamented: “This is unacceptable,” emphasising the toll of prolonged delays on the travel experience.
Amidst these concerns raised by frequent travellers, the pressing question arises: are these recurrent technical issues signalling a larger problem, potentially setting the stage for an aviation disaster?
The human interest element lies not just in the logistics of flight delays or malfunctioning aircraft but in the emotional turbulence experienced by those who entrust their safety to the wings of SriLankan Airlines.
SriLankan Airlines employees pinned the blame on the delays in commencing the airline’s restructuring process, claiming that the airline would face a major setback in the coming years if it continued in its current status, with a number of flight delays and recently-reported technical faults.
Recent Melb.-Col. flight
While it has become a common phenomenon to experience a SriLankan Airlines flight being late for one or more hours, technical faults, although rarer, have been in the news recently, with the latest incident being reported relating to a Melbourne-Colombo flight.
As confirmed by SriLankan Airlines, flight UL 605, en route from Melbourne to Colombo, encountered a technical issue, prompting its return to the Melbourne Airport shortly after takeoff on Monday (12). The departure from Melbourne occurred at 6.16 p.m. local time and the incident had transpired due to a technical glitch.
Australian media sources reported that the Airbus returned to the Melbourne Airport just before 7.30 p.m. after the emergency squawk code of 7700 was activated. The emergency call led to the flight quickly becoming the most tracked flight, with nearly 10,000 people worldwide monitoring it on FlightRadar24.com.
According to Australian media reports, the Airbus A330 had been compelled to turn back shortly after take-off when passengers reported seeing and smelling smoke.
Are technical faults common?
Despite technical faults of this nature being common, especially when compared to other airlines in the region such as Air India, which faced 478 technical snags and 184 glitches from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022, statistics on technical faults for SriLankan Airlines are unfortunately not publicly available. However, a senior airline officer stated that the occurrence of technical faults were within internationally-accepted levels.
As per the latest available International Air Transport Association (IATA) safety report issued in 2022, there were five fatal accidents involving the loss of life to passengers and crew. This is a reduction from seven in 2021 and is an improvement on the five-year average (2018-2022), which was also seven. The fatal accident rate improved to 0.16 per million sectors for 2022, from 0.27 per million sectors in 2021, and also was ahead of the five-year fatal accident rate of 0.20.
The accident rate was 1.21 per million sectors, a reduction compared to the rate of 1.26 accidents for the five years of 2018-2022 but an increase compared to 1.13 accidents per million sectors in 2021. The fatality risk declined to 0.11 from 0.23 in 2021 and 0.13 for the five years of 2018-2022.
IATA member airlines experienced one fatal accident in 2022, with 19 fatalities. The industry 2022 fatality risk of 0.11 means that on average, a person would need to take a flight every day for 25,214 years to experience a 100% fatal accident. This is an improvement over the five-year fatality rate (average of 22,116 years).
The latest available audit report on SriLankan Airlines (SLA) has stated that according to the needs assessment of SLA, 27 aircraft are required but it currently operates with a 24-aircraft fleet. Out of this, eight aircraft are out of service as of 20 April 2023 and lease rentals aggregating to Rs. 4,956 million had been paid for the out-of-service aircraft from the year 2021 to 20 April 2023.
SLA, in its response, had stated that aircraft ANA, ANB, AND, ANE, and ANF were unserviceable due to engine failures and placed on long-term storage awaiting serviceable engines. Engine unavailability is a global issue and the management is currently working on a plan to restore normalcy. The manufacturer has agreed to provide spare engines until the original engines are repaired.
Further, aircraft ABQ was on a lease return check and both engines identified internal failures. Aircraft ALH was inducted for the pre-planned mandatory heavy maintenance check on 18 October 2022 and released to operation on 6 April 2023. Aircraft ALN was inducted for a pre-planned mandatory heavy maintenance check on 2 March 2023 and released to operation on 20 April 2023.
A disaster waiting to happen
According to SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard Nuttall, delays are a common occurrence for airlines. However, he noted that when there was a delay in Sri Lanka, it tended to be perceived as a major issue.
Nuttall explained that the current challenge faced by the airline industry was obtaining spare parts promptly. He cited an example of an aircraft undergoing routine maintenance in December, where corrosion had been detected – a typical issue in aviation.
Usually, airlines reach out to maintenance organisations, including other carriers, to acquire the needed spare parts within 24 hours. In this case, the required part had only been available from Airbus, but it has been unable to provide it immediately due to prior commitments. SriLankan Airlines had to approach another organisation which needed approval from Airbus to manufacture the part. Consequently, what should have taken 24-48 hours ended up taking two weeks.
Nuttall highlighted that this delay issue was not exclusive to SriLankan Airlines, but a challenge faced by the entire industry. However, he emphasised that in December, there had been a convergence of multiple challenges, creating what he referred to as a “perfect storm” for the airline.
‘No safety concerns’
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, SriLankan Airlines Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya President Janaka Vijaya Pathirana stressed that the technical faults experienced by the SriLankan aircraft were at internationally-accepted levels and that there were no safety concerns regarding the aircraft as all aircraft were undergoing the internationally-accepted safety checkups when they were grounded.
“The issue with the airline is the lack of aircraft. Earlier we had 26 aircraft, but now it has dropped to 17. We are managing the entire business with 17 aircraft. If this continues, there will be no future for the airline. It needs the immediate attention of all responsible authorities,” he added.
Meanwhile, another senior airline official who wished to remain anonymous blamed the Government for delaying the initiation of the restructuring process. “It is a fact that the Government can run the airline, but since it is not going to happen, we urge the Government to find a partner immediately,” the official stressed.