In June 2011, the volcanic ash clouds from the eruption of Chile’s Mt Puyehue Cordon Caulle volcano disrupted the travel plans of thousands of travellers and grounded hundreds of flights in Australia and New Zealand. Whilst no one blames the airlines for this event, confusion emerged when some airlines such as Air New Zealand and Emirates continued to operate whilst others like Qantas and Jet Star stayed grounded.
For those airlines that remained grounded, were they just playing it safe? And if one airline continues to fly does that mean it is taking risks? Can an airline really fly safely under or around an ash cloud and if yes, why not all airlines? And why does one airline provide accommodation for affected travellers whilst others don’t?
Grounding Flights During Volcanic Ash Clouds
There is something comforting about your flight being grounded due to volcanic ash clouds in the flight path. Make no mistake. It is definitely inconvenient but if the recent coverage of the thousands of passengers stranded around Australian and New Zealand airports showed anything, it was overall, travellers understood.
Confusion only began to arise when travellers learned that some airlines were continuing to fly whilst others remained grounded. Qantas insisted that company safety standards dictated that where there was the known existence of any volcanic ash in or around a flight path, their flights would not operate. Because the information available to them could not determine any measure of the ash density, they would not be flying.
This satisfied travellers for the first couple of days but once the grounding of flights was leading into the forth and fifth day, and other airlines such as Air New Zealand and Emirates continued to operate without any aircraft falling out of the sky, the tide of understanding began to turn against Qantas. Qantas travellers demanded to be transferred to other airlines. I was one of them.
What is the Risk of Flying Under or Around Volcanic Ash Plumes?
One has to believe that an airline will not fly if there is any uncertainty about safety. It is a morbid thought but with each passing day that I was delayed due to the volcanic ash cloud, I was heartened by the fact that Air New Zealand and Emirates were continuing to fly without any of the airplanes falling out of the sky.
Air New Zealand insisted that they could see where the ash cloud lay. They could safely fly at lower altitudes beneath the ash cloud, and skirt around the outside as deemed necessary. Because the journey takes longer at lower altitudes, more fuel would be required. Yet as seats were snapped up and flights were taking off without a single spare seat, I do not doubt that they recouped the costs of any additional fuel.
All the while, rumors started to circulate about why Qantas refused to operate their aircraft. Perhaps they did not want to pay for the extra fuel. Even if this was not true, it was understandable. Qantas have given redundancy to hundreds of cabin crew and senior level management in the last twelve months as it has struggled to claw itself into a better state of financial health.
In the last twelve months, the airline has also been plagued by a string of bad press ranging from parts of its new Airbus A380 coming loose in flight, tyres bursting on arrival, dramatic losses in cabin pressure causing injury, through to continued staffing strikes. It is no wonder that the airline did not want to enter into any situation that could be misconstrued as unsafe.
Communication with and Alternative Arrangements for Disrupted Travellers
When a natural event disrupts travellers on the scale that this volcanic event did, the true measure of an airline’s contingency processes are rigorously tested. It also reminds travellers of some basic home truths when it comes to flying.
All airlines seek to give as much notice of disruptions to travellers as quickly as they can. However, they can only do this if they have the traveler’s contact details. Make sure that when you make a flight booking, that you advise the airline of your mobile phone number and frequent flyer number. During this disruption we were both phoned and texted by Qantas to advise of delays.
In the event of a weather disruption that is out of the airline’s control, it is not the airline’s responsibility to find accommodation for travelers. Some airlines will find accommodation for disrupted passengers as an act of goodwill. However, it is unreasonable to expect an airline to accommodate thousands of disrupted travellers for an uncertain amount of time due to an event that is beyond their control.
As always, an event such as this is a timely reminder of why travellers should never travel without travel insurance. Travel insurance should always be factored into the cost of travel. My travel insurance for this trip saved us thousands of dollars in additional flights and accommodation.
Volcanic Ash Disruptions to Air Travellers
The grounding of flights in Australia and New Zealand during the recent Chilean volcano ash plume was controversial. Qantas played it safe but will have suffered for it financially to the tune of reportedly AUD21 million. Air New Zealand adapted their flight paths, managed to keep disruption at a minimum, and came out as the winner on the day.
Sources
- "Chilean ash cloud returns – flights cancelled." (2011, June 24). Retrieved from The National Business Review website.
- "Frequently asked questions due to volcanic ash disruptions." (2011, June 03). Retrieved from the Qantas website.
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