Airlines operate over 2,000 flights with expired parts

Cut off from the supply of Western components, Russian airlines operate flights with “expired” spare parts. As Kommersant found out, more than 2,000 flights with expired equipment were registered in 2022.

The head of Rostransnadzor, Viktor Basargin, spoke about this at a meeting of the State Duma Transport Committee. According to him, despite the sanctions, the airline continued “uninterrupted passenger deliveries.”

Rostransnadzor carried out unscheduled inspections at hundreds of airlines, including “the largest high-risk enterprises.” The agency learned that companies using Western equipment have shortages of components and problems with the supply of consumables. According to Basargin, the lead time for orders increased from 3-7 days (before sanctions) to 60-120.

“It is simply impossible to import some specific products,” the head of Rostransnadzor stated. As a result, airlines are forced to break the rules of operating aircraft equipment, which directly affects flight safety, he added.

“For example, putting into service components with an expired asset. In total, more than 2,000 such flights have been recorded,” Basargin said. It did not specify whether this applies to commercial travel or all types of air travel. In total, in 2022, dispatchers of the state-owned ATM corporation handled 1.4 million flights, including transit and international flights, the newspaper writes.

In an interview with Kommersant, major airlines denied the use of obsolete spare parts. According to the head of one of the carriers, “inspectors could count the batteries or accumulators”. It eliminated the use of critical “outdated” parts such as wing mechanization and hydraulic systems. “Unlike small and business transport, large passenger companies carry too much responsibility,” the source explained.

Since last spring, air carriers have obliged staff not to enter equipment faults in the flight logs (TLB), as a result of which planes often fly out of order, Proekt wrote the day before, citing Aeroflot employees.

For example, Aeroflot senior stewards were forbidden to record equipment problems without the permission of the flight commander. “So that the planes do not remain on the ground due to a malfunction that, according to the documents, prevents the ship from flying until it is repaired,” explained the former Aeroflot employee.

At other airlines, the same practice is behind the scenes, a source of the carrier’s technical staff said. For example, in aircraft toilets, the “air duct” vacuum generator is not replaced for six months.