What determines the cost of the flight in practice

I flew not only on passenger aircraft, but also on cargo. They can see the world, meet different people and try to make sure that they do not kill you. Especially in Africa.



But I would like to tell you not about this, but about how the back office works before the flight.

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By back office, I understand the whole structure of individual departments within the airline, working closely together. The “planktones”, as they are sometimes jokingly called flight and technical crews, do 90% of the work associated with the organization of the voyage. The remaining approximately 10% are already made by pilots and technicians. They are on top of this production pyramid, and they are responsible for the flight. Specifically rake inconsistencies services, coming to work.

This is money, nothing personal

One former aviation engineer, having left aviation to network marketing, persuading me to join their sect, liked to say: "Every business comes down to sales." And he is right.



In general, no matter how we love the sky and love this process of raising multi-ton garbage in the air, overcoming the elements, no matter how they know and learn the materiel, no matter how they learn the piloting technique, flight rules, English, aerodynamics and a whole lot, - in the modern capitalist world without a “merchant” is impossible.



Cargo pilots get a job when there is someone to carry cargo.



The white collar found us a job, agreed with the customer and in the end brought a profit to the airline, from which we are allocated a salary (quite decent).



For example, somewhere far, far away, on the islands of Central Asia, coal was found, and a quarry was being developed there. We urgently need to transport there, suppose, a fashionable and reliable excavator from Europe. Large heavy loads that need to be specifically loaded, moored and, most importantly, safely transported.



Suppose an excavator wants to fly our airline.



Having received the order, the merchant makes several applications.

Application # 1: guys, what kind of aircraft do you need, how do you bring an excavator, how much does it cost, and what equipment will you need?

Requests a load planning service. This service is responsible for shipping calculations. The excavator must be properly submerged, the load on the floors must meet certain values, so as not to push them through, it is moored and placed inside the cargo compartment so as not to go beyond the limits of alignment.



The plane must be balanced, i.e., the centering chart and loading plan should already be formed. The dimensions and weight of the excavator are sent to this service, and the corresponding specialist calculates whether the excavator will enter the cargo compartment, what additional equipment is needed for loading, what needs to be done if the load does not fit geometrically into the aircraft (it can unscrew the wheels or a protruding exhaust pipe) the schedule and, most importantly, designs the scheme of its loading into the aircraft so that the on-board engineer does not invent how to place the load, but already had a clear plan in what sequence to make the loading. It is immediately determined that the equipment must have to put the cargo in the cargo compartment.



The task of transporting "dangerous goods", and what needs to be done with the "dangerous goods" in order to be safely transported, also falls on the shoulders of the low-cap specialist. What do we mean by dangerous goods? These are the substances that, in the course of transportation, may cause harm to either the aircraft or aviation personnel. By the way, all pilots undergo special courses on the transport of dangerous goods and receive a special certificate allowing them to transport dangerous goods. Somewhere I read in the foreign press, as transported in a cargo Boeing installation, which generated oxygen. We know from chemistry lessons that pure oxygen is a very explosive thing, especially in combination with oils. According to the official version, the plane exploded in the air due to the fact that the installation in the air somehow began to generate oxygen, and a pair of oils from the air-conditioning system provoked an explosion. The plane collapsed, all crew members died. So, before departure, competent pilots check not only how the cargo is moored, but also its nature, whether there are any restrictions - purely, let's say, operational, when shipping and changing external conditions can cause some kind of problem on board, associated with the cargo. In order not to solve all these problems in flight, the lowland-capturing service at the planning stage is working on these issues. By the way, cargo, properly packaged and labeled in accordance with special technical instructions, is not dangerous. Another thing is that the packaging and the correct loading and delivery to the aircraft is expensive and costs a lot of money.

Application # 2: we will fly out quietly at night!

The second application is navigators. This is not the navigators with a pipe, a sweater with a high collar, a beard, compasses, a map, a compass and a glass of whiskey. In the previous post, I described the difference between aeronautical services - these are ATC controllers. Aeronautical support is a service that provides aeronautical information: diagrams, maps, takeoff and landing characteristics of the aircraft, the formation of the route, taking into account restrictions.



That's where the navigators sit. The navigator receives an application to transport the goods - an excavator - from the Italian small airfield to the small airfield of China. This is an example of a purely hypothetical, but very real, because you still have to try to find such airfields: usually, the quarry equipment is sent from large terminals. And not to China: there is enough of its equipment. In general, it is necessary for the task.



The navigator goes to Jeppesen (the so-called air navigation software, information for which is collected from all countries and aggregated into a form understandable for aviation). There - in the “Airport Directory” section, the airport’s regulations, the strip length and the cargo density are observed (this is the value that allows individual aircraft with a certain weight to press on the strip).



By the way, each plane presses differently on the lane. For example, IL-76 with a take-off weight of 190 tons weighs less on the strip than the Boeing 737, which has a maximum mass of 60 tons. For me it was once a discovery. Let us omit the nuances from the 737 in various modifications that have different take-off weights, but usually our cargo aircraft with a mass much larger than the passenger weighs less on the runway. The values ​​of load capacity need to know, so as not to push the cover under the plane.



The navigator looks at what was invented in the loude-caption, and says, puffing away with the missing tube: “Hmmm! We will fly away technically from here. The taxiways and the runway itself have good surfaces, there are good parking lots for loading, the navigation aids and the airport’s regulations allow us to take off even if we carry dangerous cargo: the airfield category allows us to work with dangerous cargo. ”



Then he again takes a nonexistent glass of whiskey and determines the maximum permissible mass of the aircraft. Many on earth think that the aircraft can, like KamAZ, load as much as possible, fill it up as much as possible and fly with a maximum weight of 40 degrees in the heat.



Not. An airplane is an apparatus heavier than air that has takeoff and landing restrictions. In other words, not all aircraft can fly 35 degrees of heat from a 2,300-meter-long strip with a maximum weight. Heavy cargo from such a band just can not. So, the maximum take-off weight of the aircraft depends on the length of the strip, temperature, pressure and gradient (climb angle, expressed as a percentage and indicated on the maps of old Jeppessen). All this is considered in a special program or according to the schedules specified in the instructions for the production of flight.



Khoba! We can not take off from this airfield with the maximum weight during the day. And at night we can. But at night, when the temperatures are the lowest, we cannot take off, because the airfield is closed according to the regulations. And in the morning the temperatures rise, and our take-off weight decreases.



The navigator continues his creative process: it means that the refueling airport must be sought somewhere closer. Here you need to know the geography, well, experience tells you which airports are cheaper fuel. It is the price of fuel that determines the bulk of the cost of the flight, so it is important to choose the airfield with the lowest fuel price. I had a case when I was outraged by an additional landing, but the navigators explained to me that this landing was simply necessary to reduce the cost of the flight.



The customer wanted to pick up cargo at a specific airport, where the cost of fuel was high, and to reduce the cost of the flight, we flew to a nearby nearby airfield, where the price of fuel was much lower, the lane was longer, so we could leave this airfield with the maximum weight, flying as far as possible and spending much less money on fuel.



Determining the maximum weight, the maximum weight of the take-off characteristics, determining the rules of the airport, adjusting the departure time we need, the navigator paves the route as economically feasible as possible. And the cost of the route - the main costs.



Because the cost of the flight ultimately consists of the cost of fuel + air navigation charges (fees for servicing the airports, and the air traffic controller is also paid for along the flight route) and the costs of the low-air traffic service.

There is a route

So, we have decided how we will load the cargo, how we will fly. Kommersant adds these two amounts, throws up the margin (margin) and puts the amount to the customer.



All services work in one program. And each service enters its data into this program: the fuel service - the price of fuel, the air navigation service in the same program - the prices of air navigation services. It turns out that all services work in one program, entering their data in the part concerning them. As a result, when the program generates a flight price, it turns out a picture that is adequate to the realities.



Naturally, if all services do their job well and don’t bring in any kind of crap.

Application number 3: can we fly through your small country with a very dangerous cargo?

Kommersant sends a request to the service of obtaining permits. We have to get permissions of specific countries for the whole flight. Despite the four degrees of freedom of the air, not all countries allow the passage through themselves. For example, some countries do not like the fact that specific flights are operated from their country by carriers of another country. Many people do not like the fact that mining equipment is transported to China through their country, since China is getting new equipment and more competitive in the international market.



And since it was not an excavator and not to China, many people do not like the fact that such a product is being transported here.



That is, obtaining permits for the passage of countries is not such a trivial task and sometimes requires the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (no kidding). I am silent about commercial rights, when one country stupidly does not allow a commercial flight of an airline of another country.



The third department deals with obtaining these permits. It also costs money. Permissions also affect the route and at the stage of their receipt: the route can change accordingly. Changing the price of the flight, as the route may be extended.



Further the same department agrees with the airports. This is a huge job that is done before the flight, so that the pilots come and all the services at this airport already know who, when and what will be lucky from their airport, what is needed to ensure this flight. It is long and dreary, and if it is seen once, it will be clear how easy it is for the pilot in the cockpit (for that matter).

And what if the load is really dangerous?

As I have already said, Dangerous cargo is a cargo that can harm passengers, crew or aircraft if not properly transported. If the packaging and labeling completely solve this, then the goods are not considered dangerous. There is a thick book of technical instructions for each type of dangerous goods. For each type - what and how. But there is a nuance! For example, cement is not a dangerous load, but it can not be carried just in bags. Due to the operation of the air conditioning system, it can enter the aircraft’s pipelines and cement everything due to condensate. It is necessary to pack it tightly. On the other hand, what kind of fool will take him by plane, it would seem, but the instruction provides for, and there really are cases.



There are still fragile loads and temperature-sensitive. The first department (plenning) deals with these goods. It is interesting to carry medical supplies: there are a number of sensitive drugs, and organs, and, for example, radioactive materials for X-rays or radiation therapy. By the way, dry ice, which is used in cooling organs, is also a dangerous load, since it evaporates carbon dioxide during evaporation. The amount of dry ice transported is specified in the technical instructions.



Even on the An-12, the load may break due to pressure, since the cargo compartment of this liner is not sealed. Suppose you need to transport the killer whale and the bees (there was such a case, but the killer whale was carried on the IL-76: you need to get a calculation for it by the allowable pressure). Or tractors often drove and special equipment for mining. These are such cars with big glasses. There, if the doors are tightly closed, the glass will squeeze out the pressure, because the pressure inside the excavator was atmospheric, and the cabin of this machine is very tight, the air inside the cabin has no place to go, and the pressure is much lower at flight level. The tractor comes a little more round than it was before the flight. The customer is worried. All these conditions (desired temperature, pressure) must be specified in the contract. Further on the same An-12 there is a choice to fly to the lower echelons, where it is relatively warmer and the air pressure corresponds to the parameters of the cargo. This should also be in the contract and taken into account in the calculation of the flight. Because the lower the level, the more expensive it is to fly on fuel due to air resistance. And if we fly in lower echelons, then we need to fly around the mountains, the same route must be set more sly through the Himalayas. Well, on our planes without special equipment, climate control is not up to a degree working, but at the level “warm – cold”. All these nuances should be taken into account: they, firstly, affect the safety of the flight, and secondly, its cost.



In the end, the agreement received, the route is, the pilots confirmed it, the board is ready, the cargo is already inside. Then we come to the ready and fly. Although, of course, we sometimes make adjustments to the route as necessary, but if professionals are at the back office, this almost does not happen.