Aeroflot, which controls almost half of the Russian market for passenger transportation by air, can not be called the most disciplined airline. In the ranking of punctuality of carriers in the last year, he was only fourth. Messages on the delay and cancellation of flights are regularly received from different regions of the country. So, more recently, a woman with a disabled baby was unable to fly out of Saratov in time. Mom drove a girl to an operation in Moscow, the flight of Aeroflot was delayed for 29 hours (while a train from Saratov to Moscow can be reached in 16 hours), surgery for a child in the capital's clinic was in question. In the Arkhangelsk region, frequent delays and cancellations of Aeroflot flights became the subject of attention of the human rights commissioner.

The monitoring service of the Ombudsman Lyubov Anisimova reported that since the beginning of 2017 Aeroflot canceled 50 flights from the region, 30 departures were delayed. It is possible that by the end of December the situation will only worsen, and not because of bad weather conditions and technical malfunctions. "Aeroflot" does not have enough pilots to ensure the growing volume of traffic.

Tired wings

The deficit of the flight crew appeared in Aeroflot not yesterday, but in recent months the situation has worsened. According to the register of Rosaviatsii vacancies, in the middle of October the carrier lacked more than 300 pilots, and more than a third of vacant seats fell on the commanders of aircraft of various types. This does not prevent the company from announcing grandiose plans for the next year, in 2018 it intends to purchase 44 new cars, increasing the total number of aircraft fleet to 350 units.

In the Sheremetyevsk Flight Operations Union, it is believed that in connection with this, as well as taking into account the write-off of age-related employees, in 2018 Aeroflot will need to hire at least 900 new pilots. However, even now, due to a shortage of personnel, pilots have to fly above the norm and take leave.

The company "Aeroflot" has accumulated debts for the provision of holidays to pilots, for some it already exceeds 100 days. Do not let go, because there is no one to work. During the summer period they offered to reduce holidays or move them to the autumn. Today, simply do not give leave in full, - says the president of SHPLS Igor Deldyuzhov.

According to Rosaviatsia, in October 2017 more than 1,500 flights from domestic airports were detained for two hours or more, a significant part of the delays are due to internal flights. In this regard, the State Duma proposed tougher carriers' liability for violation of the timetable. Deputy Energy Committee Igor Anansky believes that the majority of disruptions occur through the fault of airlines.