VietJet Air, a privately operated airline that has been rocked by a recent scandal, is operating a fleet of 15 aircrafts deployed for an average of 100 flights each day, its managing director said Friday.
The budget carrier has 15 Airbus A320s and offers more than 700 flights on 19 domestic and international air routes weekly, CEO Luu Duc Khanh told
Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
The airline has 281 flight attendants and 142 pilots, raising concern that the aircrew will be exhausted, given the 15 planes dispatched for 100 flights a day.
But Khanh said everything is under control.
“Each of our pilots will be on duty for around 80 to 90 hours of flying a month, and this will be tracked by our computer system,” he said.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) will examine these statistics before renewing the pilots’ flying certificates.
“If the pilots’ flying hours exceed this limit, they will be considered a threat to the safety of their passengers and their certificates will not be renewed,” Khanh said.
The chief executive officer spoke of the recent scandal as “a pitiful incident.”
On June 19, VietJet Air flight VJ8575 landed at Cam Ranh airport in the coastal province of Khanh Hoa rather than its intended destination, Da Lat, a Central Highlands city 130km away .
The Czech captain of the Airbus A320 was not informed of the change in air route, which came after the original aircraft scheduled to fly to Da Lat incurred a sudden technical problem.
“We viewed this incident as a warning to tighten our risk management to ensure the safety of our passengers,” Khanh said.
Following what was an unprecedented scandal of Vietnamese aviation, the CAAV has ordered a month-long special supervision of VietJet Air starting Thursday.
CAAV has assigned more than 38 officials to closely watch over the operations of the airline, from its ground service and maintenance to flying and training activities, the authority announced on Friday.
The CAAV officials will oversee VietJet Air complete its procedures from the departure airport to the destination terminal, while its supervisors will also board VietJet Air planes to watch over on-flight operations of the pilots and cabin members.
The supervisors are supposed to send their report to the CAAV by 5pm every day during the month of intensive supervision.
The CAAV will release the reassessment on the flying ability of VietJet Air by July 26.
Meanwhile, the report on how those involved in the scandal will be sanctioned is due to the Ministry of Transport by July 7, according to the authority.
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