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Bryan Air: Daily Summaries Delivered
by by Bryan Roseveare
I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator these days, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around.This is not a side project. Training pilots is my job, and I believe in the way an airline flight deck works. The structure. The discipline. The way a crew stays calm, works the problem and makes a decision after something goes wrong. Pilots are not born with those habits. They are trained into them, one session at a time, and that means anyone can learn them. They also work for the engine failures of life: the job that disappears, the diagnosis, the decision you have to make with half the information and no time. I want to give you the tools pilots use, so that when your moment comes, you have a proven way to handle it, from the most professional industry in the world.I do this from South Africa, a country I love and refuse to look away from. We sit at the far end of a continent, a long way from eve
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- Yesterday1h 2m
#295 FlySafair Sold, OR Tambo Queues And 16 Bomb Threats In One Day
More than six out of every ten seats on a domestic flight in South Africa belong to FlySafair. The Competition Tribunal has approved its sale to Harith, a deal Business Day puts at about R7 billion, and Harith already owns about 37% of Lanseria Airport. So the approval comes with conditions: Harith gets no say in Lanseria's pricing, slots or apron access, the airport and the airline may not share directors, Lanseria must serve other airlines on fair and equal terms, and nobody may be retrenched because of the merger for three years. CemAir argued at the August hearing that Harith's backers and the Public Investment Corporation are too closely linked. Harith says FlySafair keeps its management, its low-cost model and its customer offering, and expects to close before the end of the year. Bryan Roseveare and Ryan Parrock are joined by Alan Macaulay, our long-time correspondent from Canada and now Geneva, who joins the show as a full crew member from this episode. The story of the day: at least sixteen passenger flights across Europe were targeted by bomb threats in a single day. Fighter jets went up in France, Italy and Bulgaria. An Aer Lingus A320 from Dublin to Rome was escorted down to a French air base in Normandy. In every case reported so far, the searches found nothing. Alan talks through the one bomb threat he handled as captain in northern Canada, and what the four-hour disruption did to the rest of the day. Your comments on last week's OR Tambo rant led us to the Border Management Authority, which runs the immigration desks and says it is operating at about a quarter of the staff it needs. Gauteng has lent it 80 crime prevention wardens to work as immigration officers. February's budget gave it R990 million to fill 738 posts. Meanwhile Airports Company South Africa posted a R1.2 billion profit and is spending R14.5 billion on OR Tambo over five years, starting with 90 toilets and then 780 more. Then storm season. A hailstorm that arrived in fifteen minutes, why leaving the weather radar on auto tilt is a bad habit, and Alan unpacks what "certified for known icing" actually covers: aircraft certified before 2015 cannot tell you when you are in severe icing, and if you find yourself there you are in an emergency, not a stay-and-play situation. Ryanair's half-year profit fell 15% to €2.15 billion. It carried 6% more passengers at 4% lower fares, and it is now looking at a fuel bill about €2 billion higher next year as its hedges run out. Emirates reported a 66% drop in half-year profit on the same day. And a European Cockpit Association survey of 7,200 pilots found more than three in four had experienced microsleeps while operating an aircraft in the past four weeks. IN THIS EPISODE The Tribunal approves Harith's takeover of FlySafair, and the conditions attached Sixteen bomb threats across Europe in one day, and what a pilot actually does with one Airlines asking for bomb threat and cockpit attack scenarios in training OR Tambo passport queues: the Border Management Authority, the wardens, the money and the e-gates Storm season, weather radar and icing certification explained Jets versus turboprops in bad weather Ryanair's profit drop and how airlines survive a fuel shock Fatigue and falling asleep on the flight deck Your comments: SAA's future, SAA's crew, and the crash axe I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around. SOURCES Business Day, 29 October 2026: Harith's R7bn FlySafair deal cleared for final take-off → https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-10-29-hariths-r7bn-flysafair-deal-cleared-for-final-take-off/ Travel News, 29 October 2026: Tribunal approves FlySafair takeover → https://www.travelnews.co.za/article/tribunal-approves-flysafair-takeover The Citizen, 18 August 2026: CemAir asks tribunal to prohibit Harith acquisition of Safair → https://citizen.co.za/business/cemair-asks-tribunal-to-prohibit-harith-acquisition-of-safair AeroTime, 5 November 2026: Bomb threats hit 16 European flights, prompt fighter escorts → https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/bomb-threats-europe-flights-fighter-escorts-diversions Sunday World, 5 October 2026: OR Tambo immigration headache, staff shortages lead to long queues → https://sundayworld.co.za/news/or-tambo-immigration-headache-staff-shortages-lead-to-long-queues/ Business Report, 25 February 2026: Budget 2026, Border Management Authority to get R990 million to fill 738 critical positions → https://businessreport.co.za/business/2026-02-25-budget-2026-border-management-authority-to-get-r990-million-to-fill-738-critical-positions/ BusinessTech, 6 February 2026: R14.5 billion expansion at South Africa's busiest international air
- 1 weeks ago51 min
#294 Should South Africa Still Own An Airline? SAA Pay Staggered Again, Buyer Due By Feb
DESCRIPTION: SAA has staggered its October salaries for the second month running, and The Citizen reports that Treasury has given the airline until February to find a buyer. Two former airline pilots who have both had the message that pay will be late ask the question out loud: should South Africa still own an airline? Bryan Roseveare and Ryan Parrock are back together after a few weeks apart. In this one they cover the SAA pay crisis, the flydubai 1073 crew collecting their medals, the state of OR Tambo as a new chief executive arrives, and whether your child should become a pilot in South Africa right now. The SAA story first. TimesLIVE reported an internal memo that staggers October pay by staff group, with executives paid last, and September was staggered too. Treasury's R1 billion guarantee is a promise to a lender, not cash paid to the airline, and The Citizen reports it comes with conditions: name the assets for sale within 90 days, deliver a plan with independent valuations by 3 December, report every quarter on which routes make money, and find a buyer by February. Bryan and Ryan ask who would take on SAA's debt in a market where FlySafair, Airlink, Lift and CemAir are growing, and what a late payday does to a crew who still have to go to work and fly you safely. Then the flydubai 1073 crew, decorated in Dubai on Monday with the First Class Order of Zayed II for landing the aircraft after the 30 September cockpit incident. Nova News reports that one of the relief pilots who landed it in Tabuk is from Kimberley. Ryan and Bryan talk about what this does to simulator training, cockpit door rules, the crash axe, and the psychometric tests every pilot sits before a job. OR Tambo gets a new chief executive on Sunday. ACSA made a R1.2 billion profit last year, and Bryan, just back from Europe, describes the immigration queue and the state of the terminal that greeted him. He felt ashamed, and he says so. And the question parents ask Bryan more than any other: should my child become a pilot? Ryan's honest answer, the medical to do before you spend a cent on training, how long it took one young first officer to reach the airline, and the pilots who told Bryan they would not do it again. IN THIS EPISODE SAA staggers October salaries for a second month, and Parliament wants answers by Friday What the R1 billion Treasury guarantee is, and the conditions The Citizen reports come with it Who would buy SAA in a market where FlySafair, Airlink, Lift and CemAir are growing Crew stress when the pay message lands, and why the industry is behind the SAA crews The flydubai 1073 crew collect their medals, with a South African reportedly among them Cockpit doors, crash axes and pilot psychometric testing after flydubai 1073 OR Tambo gets a new chief executive, and Bryan's own walk through international arrivals Where ACSA's R1.2 billion profit went Should your child become a pilot in South Africa right now Do the aviation medical first, then choose your training Paying back the training loan, and ten years from licence to airline Lifestyle, burnout, luck and networking without LinkedIn Sports banter, the Superbrew standings, and an AI agent that lives inside WhatsApp I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around. SOURCES TimesLIVE, 22 October 2026: SAA salaries delayed again as cash flow crunch threatens national carrier → https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-10-22-saa-salaries-delayed-again-as-cash-flow-crunch-threatens-national-carrier/ Sunday Times, 24 October 2026: SAA's finances under fire as cash squeeze tightens → https://www.sundaytimes.timeslive.co.za/news/2026-10-24-saas-finances-under-fire-as-cash-squeeze-tightens/ The Citizen, 22 October 2026: SAA receives R1bn guarantee, further bailouts not ruled out → https://www.citizen.co.za/business/saa-receives-r1bn-guarantee-further-bailouts-not-ruled-out/ The Citizen, 29 October 2026: SAA given until February to find buyer → https://www.citizen.co.za/news/saa-given-until-february-to-find-buyer/ Gulf News, 27 October 2026: UAE President honours flydubai crew with First Class Order of Zayed II → https://gulfnews.com/uae/uae-president-awards-zayed-medal-to-flydubai-crew-for-bravery-1.500726129 Nova News, 28 October 2026: Northern Cape-born pilot among those receiving UAE medals (single source at time of writing) → https://novanews.co.za/watch-northern-cape-born-pilot-among-those-receiving-uae-medals-for-foiling-mid-air-terror-attack/ EWN, 9 September 2026: ACSA takes flight with bumper earnings as passenger numbers grow → https://www.ewn.co.za/acsa-takes-flight-with-bumper-earnings
- 1 weeks ago11 min
#293 A Pilot Explains: SAA's Salaries Are Late Again
South African Airways has told its staff that October salaries will be late for the second month in a row, Parliament wants an answer from the Transport Minister by Friday 30 October, and Treasury has disclosed a R1 billion guarantee for the airline's working capital. A normal business that runs short of cash tightens its belt. An airline that runs short of cash usually stops flying. In this short solo episode I explain why that is. Almost everything an airline spends is paid before the passenger boards, to companies that do not extend credit for long: fuel suppliers, the airport company, air traffic control, aircraft lessors, maintenance providers, insurers and the simulator training every pilot must do on a fixed cycle. When word gets out that an airline is short of cash, those suppliers start asking for the money up front, so the airline needs more cash at exactly the moment it has less. Then I go through the record. Skywise, Mango, Velvet Sky, 1time, Comair and Nationwide all stopped flying when the money ran out, and not one of them was grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority for being broke. It was the airport company, the fuel supplier or the airline's own board. That is what a working capital guarantee is for: it keeps an airline on the right side of the people it pays every day. IN THIS EPISODE Why this week matters if you hold an SAA ticket October salaries staggered for a second month, and what SAA says about it The R1 billion Treasury guarantee, and why a guarantee is not cash What happens when suppliers start asking for payment up front The crews waiting for the bank SMS Why an airline cannot tighten its belt the way an ordinary business can Fuel, airport fees, air traffic charges, leases, maintenance, insurance and training Who actually grounded six South African airlines, and why it was never the regulator for being broke Stress at home as a safety matter FlySafair, Airlink, the Heathrow slot money and the missing annual report Friday's deadline for the minister, and the SAA hearing after the 4 November election A word to the SAA crews I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around. PILOT MENTAL HEALTH VIDEO The video I mention on air → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siJbLyZXZlM SOURCES R1 billion guarantee confirmed by SAA (ch-aviation, 23 Oct 2026) → https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/173175-saa-confirms-605mn-state-guarantee-amid-fuel-pressures EU Regulation 1008/2008 → https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32008R1008 Air Services Licensing Act 115 of 1990 → https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201503/act-115-1990.pdf SAA salaries delayed again (TimesLIVE, 22 Oct 2026) → https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-10-22-saa-salaries-delayed-again-as-cash-flow-crunch-threatens-national-carrier/ SAA's finances under fire (Sunday Times, 25 Oct 2026) → https://sundaytimes.timeslive.co.za/news/2026-10-24-saas-finances-under-fire-as-cash-squeeze-tightens Parliament summons SAA (Daily Maverick, 26 Oct 2026) → https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-26-parliament-summons-saa-demanding-answers-to-deepening-financial-turmoil-and-turbulent-governance/ SUPPORT THE SHOW Patreon is what keeps this channel producing. It helps massively, and it is the best way to support what I do. Support on Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/bryanair Every episode, the full back catalogue and everything we talk about on the show lives in one place. Bryan Air → https://bryanairpodcast.com/ THANK YOU TO OUR PATREON SUPPORTERS A warm welcome to our newest supporter, Gabedi Mosupukwa. And thank you to the people who have been carrying the show, some of them for years: Dale Williams Duncan Gillespie Franziska Jaco Mike Mason Iain Findlay Caroline Koll ACE Catharine Alan Macaulay Craig Wood Imre Kurucz Kelvin Charman
- Oct 9, 202612 min
#292 A Pilot Explains: Turbulence Into Johannesburg, The Worst Hit Of My Career Was On A Clear Day
DESCRIPTION: Turbulence won't necessarily break the aircraft. It will hurt the people who aren't strapped in. The worst hit of my flying career came on a perfectly clear day on final approach into Johannesburg, with not a cloud in the sky, and it ended in a go-around. This is the episode for anyone who is nervous about flying. I take you through what a Johannesburg summer thunderstorm looks like from the flight deck, what hail did to the nose of an aircraft I used to fly when it never even entered the storm, a flight where the weather radar showed nothing and a passenger died, and the one simple thing the investigators asked you, the passenger, to do about it. Along the way: how pilots use the weather radar and the 20 mile rule to draw a line around a storm, why thermal turbulence over the Highveld is uncomfortable but not dangerous, why your Cape Town flight is late on a perfect day, what the final report on Singapore Airlines Flight 321 says about clear air turbulence and about the pilots, why some captains leave the seat belt sign on through smooth air and what that costs them, and how the wake from an A380 landing on the parallel runway reached across and hit a 50 seat regional jet on runway 03 Left. IN THIS EPISODE: The clear day hit: wake turbulence on final approach into O.R. Tambo and a go-around Flying around Johannesburg summer storms: the weather radar, the 20 mile rule, TCAS and the aircraft ahead Thermal turbulence, and what hail thrown out of the side of a storm did to the nose of an aircraft What we train in the simulator: the decision to go around a storm, not the radar picture Why your Cape Town flight is late on a perfect day, and the airline that still arrived on time 91 percent of the time in 2025 Clear air turbulence: Singapore Airlines Flight 321, the final report, and the one piece of advice for passengers The seat belt sign: why it stays on, the cost of leaving it on too long, and the second pint Table Mountain, mountain waves over George, wind shear, and how wake turbulence actually works What you should do when the aircraft starts shaking I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE The Go-Around video → https://youtu.be/tHNSBARtGtY SOURCES Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (Singapore), final report on the Singapore Airlines Flight 321 turbulence event of 21 May 2024, published 19 May 2026 → https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/287/7900f2d4-78dd-4325-adae-46c128857023/B773ER%20(9V-SWM)%20Turbulence%20event%20over%20Myanmar%2021%20May%202024.pdf FAA Advisory Circular 00-24C, Thunderstorms → https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/advisory_circular/ac%2000-24c.pdf FAA Aeronautical Information Manual, Chapter 7 Section 4, Wake Turbulence → https://www.faa.gov/Air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim_html/chap7_section_4.html Gijben, South African Journal of Science (2012), lightning flash density over South Africa → https://scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0038-23532012000200013 Cirium 2025 On-Time Performance Review → https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/cirium-reveals-2025-top-on-time-airlines-and-airports-172676a SUPPORT THE SHOW Patreon is what keeps this channel producing. It helps massively, and it is the best way to support what I do. Support on Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/bryanair Every episode, the full back catalogue and everything we talk about on the show lives in one place. Bryan Air → https://bryanairpodcast.com/ THANK YOU TO OUR PATREON SUPPORTERS Thank you to the people who have been carrying the show, some of them for years: Dale Williams Duncan Gillespie Franziska Jaco Mike Mason Iain Findlay Caroline Koll ACE Catharine Alan Macaulay Craig Wood Imre Kurucz Kelvin Charman
- Sep 27, 20269 min
A Pilot Explains: Who Decides If Your Dubai Or Doha Flight Gets Airborne
DESCRIPTION: Every flight through the Gulf this month is being approved on the day, one flight at a time. If your December ticket to Europe or Asia connects in Dubai or Doha, this episode tells you who makes that decision and what to do about your own booking. This week your phone filled up with videos of missiles over Riyadh and a travel warning from Washington. I read the US security alert for the UAE word for word. It is an alert about the whole region. It does not say the Emirates is unsafe, and it tells Americans to check their flight with the airline. Then the week as it actually happened: flames and smoke near Riyadh's main airport, which Yemen's Houthis claimed and Saudi Arabia did not confirm. Iranian airlines suspending flights to Baghdad, Muscat, Qatar, Georgia and Azerbaijan after the United States tightened sanctions. Kuwait's airspace closed to aircraft flying over it. The European regulator telling its airlines to stay out of Iran and Iraq entirely, and to avoid flying over the waters of the Gulf except when arriving at or departing from the airports there. The airports themselves are open. South Africa feels this more than most countries because so much of our traffic to Europe and Asia connects through Dubai and Doha. When the airspace over the Emirates closed on 1 March this year, the airports company counted fourteen cancellations across Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in a single day. I explain how an airline decides, every single day, whether a flight goes: the security team, the regulator bulletins, and the flight plan built against whatever airspace is open that morning. Fewer open routes means longer flights, more fuel and less room to move when something changes. I also explain what the crew sees when GPS is being jammed or spoofed, and why that is manageable, because the aircraft has other ways to navigate and we now train for it in the full flight simulator. Then three things for you: buy the ticket that lets you change, through the airline or a proper travel agent. On the day, check the airline's own flight status, not the news. And read the war and conflict line in your travel insurance. IN THIS EPISODE The US travel alert for the UAE, read word for word What happened in the Gulf this week Which airspace is open and which is restricted Why South Africa feels it more than most countries How an airline decides every day whether a flight goes What happens when a route closes while you are in the air GPS jamming and spoofing, and why pilots can manage it Three things to do with your December ticket The regulator dates to watch: 30 September and 2 October I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around. SOURCES US Mission to the UAE, security alert, 19 September 2026 → https://ae.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-mission-united-arab-emirates-september-19-2026/ EASA Conflict Zone Information Bulletin CZIB-2026-07R2, airspace of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman → https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/domains/air-operations/czibs/czib-2026-07r2 ABC News (Reuters reporting), fire near Riyadh airport, 20 September 2026 → https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-20/fire-near-riyadh-airport-as-houthis-attack-saudi-capital/107173362 AFP via The Citizen, Iranian airlines cancel flights as US sanctions take effect, 23 September 2026 → https://www.citizen.co.za/news/news-world/iran-airlines-cancel-flights-as-us-sanctions-hit/ OPSGROUP, Middle East airspace: current operational picture → https://ops.group/blog/middle-east-airspace-current-operational-picture/ Safe Airspace, independent conflict zone and risk tracker → https://safeairspace.net/ IOL, UAE airspace closure: ACSA reports 14 South African flights cancelled, 1 March 2026 → https://iol.co.za/thepost/news/2026-03-01-uae-airspace-remains-closed-acsa-reports-14-sa-flights-cancelled/ SUPPORT THE SHOW Patreon is what keeps this channel producing. It helps massively, and it is the best way to support what I do. Support on Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/bryanair Every episode, the full back catalogue and everything we talk about on the show lives in one place. Bryan Air → https://bryanairpodcast.com/ THANK YOU TO OUR PATREON SUPPORTERS A warm welcome to our newest supporter, Kelvin Charman. And thank you to the people who have been carrying the show, some of them for years: Dale Williams Duncan Gillespie Franziska Jaco Mike Mason Iain Findlay Caroline Koll ACE Catharine Alan Macaulay Craig Wood Imre Kurucz
- Sep 24, 202629 min
#290 Fuel Is Half Your Ticket Price: Why Flights Are So Expensive Right Now
DESCRIPTION: Brent crude went back through 100 dollars a barrel on 9 September after the United States and Iran started striking each other again, and it was still above 100 dollars nearly two weeks later. Fuel makes up 50 to 55 percent of what it costs FlySafair to operate a flight. Put those two facts together and you have the reason a family of four is looking at the price of flying to Cape Town this long weekend and quietly getting the car keys out instead. Bryan and Ryan take the fuel story apart from the pilot's side of the door. Why Johannesburg has had a jet fuel supply problem of its own since an unplanned shutdown at the Natref refinery in late August, and what tankering actually means when an airline carries extra fuel into Johannesburg so it does not have to fill up there. Why FlySafair calls tankering a last resort, and why the cost of every contingency ends up in your ticket. Whether the surcharges that came in during March ever really went away when oil dipped. And the question everyone is asking: if you are flying in December, should you book now? Then the guys tell their own low-fuel stories, and these are the best fifteen minutes of the episode. Ryan on a Friday night flight to Windhoek early in his airline career, the weather closing in, and a diversion to Gaborone flown right down to reserves. Bryan on a DC-9 to the Seychelles with his father doing the fuel calculations on a whizz wheel, the numbers getting worse and worse, until they realised his dad's watch had stopped. A CRJ out of East London with the nose gear stuck down, held at 15,000 feet and 250 knots, Bloemfontein closed by weather, and a landing in Johannesburg with about 500 kilograms of fuel left. And Ryan in a medevac Hawker coming home from Mauritius into a 160 knot headwind, when the flight computer said fuel remaining at Lanseria: zero. Also this week: a GPS fault that grounded Azul's Embraer E2 fleet in Brazil for three hours, and why pilots are being told to expect GPS not to work. Boeing's 777X certification slipping into 2027 because the engine fix still needs testing. A missile strike on the fuel storage tanks at Riyadh's airport. Qatar Airways calling this war the biggest crisis in its history and cutting back to routes that make money. And the UK's air traffic control system failing for the second time in two weeks. IN THIS EPISODE Oil back above 100 dollars, and what the jet fuel price is doing to airfares. Johannesburg's jet fuel supply squeeze after the Natref refinery shutdown. Tankering explained: what it is, why airlines avoid it, and who pays for it. Fuel is half the cost of a flight, so every surcharge starts there. What a return ticket to George actually costs this weekend, and why Cape Town on FlySafair still looked reasonable. Getting overseas without paying a fortune: the RwandAir route and flying via the UAE. Should you book December flights now? The guys give an honest answer. Ryan's diversion to Gaborone on reserves, and Bryan's DC-9 fuel scare that turned out to be a stopped watch. Landing a CRJ in Johannesburg with 500 kilograms of fuel, and a medevac Hawker showing fuel remaining zero over the Indian Ocean. The Embraer E2 GPS fault, and why GPS can no longer be trusted blindly. Boeing 777X delayed again, the Riyadh airport fuel depot strike, Qatar Airways in crisis, and the UK's second ATC failure in two weeks. I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around. SOURCES Brent crude tops 100 dollars as US-Iran strikes stoke supply worries, CNBC (9 September 2026) → https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/09/oil-prices-today-wti-brent-us-iran-hormuz-attacks.html Current price of oil as of 21 September 2026, Fortune → https://fortune.com/article/price-of-oil-09-21-2026/ IATA Jet Fuel Price Monitor → https://www.iata.org/en/publications/economics/fuel-monitor/ September 2026 fuel price: petrol up R1.34, diesel up R2.94 inland, Daily Maverick → https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-31-sa-motorists-cant-escape-the-petrol-price-pain-in-september/ FlySafair introduces a temporary fuel surcharge, fuel is 50 to 55 percent of direct operating costs (11 March 2026) → https://news.flysafair.co.za/2026/temporary-fuel-surcharge/ Airlines consider carrying extra jet fuel to avoid disruptions at OR Tambo, EWN (28 August 2026) → https://www.ewn.co.za/2026/08/28/airlines-consider-carrying-extra-jet-fuel-to-avoid-flight-disruptions-at-or-tambo Sasol refinery shutdown curbs Johannesburg jet fuel supply, Moneyweb → https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/industry/sa-airlines-scramble-as-jet-fuel-supply-is-disrupted/ GPS problem halts Azul's Embraer E2 flights for nearly three h
- Sep 24, 202616 min
A Pilot Explains: 1 In 8 Airline Pilots Are Depressed, Why We Hide It And What It Costs At Home
DESCRIPTION One in eight airline pilots is depressed. More than half of us have avoided a doctor to protect our licence. This is why pilots stay silent, what it costs at home, and where to get help. This is A Pilot Explains: one story, sixteen minutes, told from the flight deck. We are trained to report every defect on the aircraft, and nobody trains us to report one on ourselves. This episode is for the men who fly you home tonight: the contract pilot who walks through his front door and gets looked at like a visitor, and the local pilot who is at the dinner table every evening and not really there. South Africa held a National Aviation Gender Summit last month, and that is real progress. There is no summit for the other 80%, so Bryan does the one thing nobody else has scheduled. IN THIS EPISODE The homecoming nobody talks about, on a long-haul contract or a local roster Why there is no summit for men, and the 120-year-old programme called wind your neck in and push on The Harvard survey: one in eight airline pilots depressed, one in 25 with thoughts of being better off dead The 2022 survey of 3,765 pilots: 56% have avoided a doctor to protect their medical certificate Why the licence is not a qualification but an identity, and why that keeps pilots quiet The Germanwings report, and the fear it named as a contributing factor Joseph Emerson: six years of hidden depression, the jump seat over Oregon, and what he said afterwards The family cost: what 300 pilots said about coming home, and the contract life nobody has studied South Africa's three airline closures, the Gulf job, and Bryan's own two years in a flat in Johannesburg The Gulf numbers: 68% severely fatigued, 45% asleep at the controls at least once What is changing: Europe's mandatory peer support, the FAA antidepressant list, and the real denial rate of one in 1,000 Mayday SA, the 24-hour peer support line for South African pilots, running since 2013 The one-line checklist: pick one person and say one true sentence I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around. IF YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO Mayday SA, 24-hour peer support for South African licence holders → 012 333 6000 (from outside SA: +27 12 333 6000) Mayday SA website → https://mayday-sa.org.za/ SADAG Suicide Crisis Line, 24 hours → 0800 567 567 SOURCES Wu et al., Airplane pilot mental health and suicidal thoughts, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Environmental Health, 2016 → https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-016-0200-6 Hoffman et al., Healthcare avoidance in aircraft pilots due to concern for aeromedical certificate loss, survey of 3,765 pilots, 2022 → https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35166258/ FAA Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee, Final Report, April 2024 → https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/Mental_Health_ARC_Final_Report_RELEASED.pdf BEA Final Report, Germanwings Airbus A320 D-AIPX, 24 March 2015 → https://bea.aero/uploads/tx_elydbrapports/BEA2015-0125.en-LR.pdf Multnomah County District Attorney, Joseph Emerson plea, Horizon Air Flight 2059 → https://www.mcda.us/index.php/news/former-alaska-airlines-pilot-pleads-no-contest-to-trying-to-shut-down-horizon-flight-2059-engines-over-oregon Avis, Bor and Eriksen, The Impact of Work on Pilots' Personal Relationships, Centre for Aviation Psychology, London, 2019 → https://doi.org/10.1027/2192-0923/a000157 Aljurf et al., Sleepiness, fatigue and depression among Gulf airline pilots, Sleep and Breathing, 2017 → https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1565-7 LSE survey of 7,239 European pilots on fatigue and wellbeing, BALPA, 2016 → https://www.balpa.org/2016/12/07/london-school-of-economics-survey-reveals-pilots-feel-fatigue-not-taken-seriously-by-airlines/ EASA, pilot support programme requirement, Regulation (EU) 2018/1042 → https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/newsroom-and-events/news/application-requirements-commission-regulation-eu-20181042-deferred FAA approved antidepressant medications for pilots → https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/app_process/exam_tech/item47/amd/antidepressants SUPPORT THE SHOW Bryan Air → https://bryanairpodcast.com/ Support on Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/bryanair
- Sep 21, 202631 min
#288 ACSA's R1.2 Billion Year, The Approach We Should Have Gone Around From, And Emirates To Berlin At Last
DESCRIPTION: Airports Company South Africa has posted a R1.2 billion profit on R8.81 billion of revenue, and Johannesburg airport still cannot keep its toilets open. Bryan and Ryan get to that, but first they own up to something every pilot has done at least once: carrying on with an approach that should have ended in a go-around. It starts with the rugby. Ryan was at FNB Stadium with the kids for the Springboks win, no flypast needed. Then the Miami 767 overrun gets the guys talking about their own bad approaches. Ryan remembers arriving into Durban horrendously high in his early CRJ days and orbiting on final to lose the height. Bryan remembers the opposite mistake, descending far too early into East London and sitting at 3,000 feet with the thrust levers up, while a training captain said nothing and let the lesson teach itself. Ryan explains why descent planning in the Beech 1900 is done the old-fashioned way, with maths, and why that keeps him honest. Then a listener question the guys have been saving for a show together: who was the worst captain you ever flew with? No names, no airline. What emerges is that the bad ones were rarely dangerous, just slow, and a slow captain on a six-sector day is a tax you pay in patience. From there it is night stops, the "slam lock" crews who never left the hotel room, why a good crew on a string of days could make or break a week, and how minimum rest and thin allowances are quietly killing the social side of the job. Bryan and Ryan's own friendship was built on night stops, so they want your stories, especially from the SAA crews who used to stop at Sal Island on the way to the States. Also this week: an app that lets you listen to live air traffic control at American airports, including the Miami ATC recording. Emirates has finally been approved to fly Dubai to Berlin, daily, after more than 20 years of asking. Air Astana is back in Dubai. Turkish Airlines will be on the Liverpool shirt. The United States has announced new visa restrictions aimed at South African officials. Sydney Airport has put 50 electric buses into service. And AAD is on in Pretoria, with the guys wondering what there is left to see. IN THIS EPISODE The Springboks at FNB, and why the rugby made up for the missing flypast. The approach you should have gone around from: Ryan high into Durban, Bryan low into East London. Why the best training captains sometimes say nothing. Descent planning in the Beech 1900 with no fancy screens to help. The worst captain you ever flew with: slow, not dangerous, and why that still costs you. Night stops, slam locks and the crew culture that minimum rest is killing. The Miami 767 overrun, and an app for listening to live air traffic control. Emirates cleared for Dubai to Berlin after 22 years. Air Astana back in Dubai, and Turkish Airlines on the Liverpool shirt. ACSA's R1.2 billion profit, and why Johannesburg airport still does not look like it. New US visa restrictions aimed at South Africa. Sydney Airport goes electric, AAD 2026, and why the AI conversation is coming back soon. I'm Bryan Roseveare. Fourteen years an airline pilot, now a simulator instructor. I train the pilots flying you around. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE ATC - Live Air Traffic Radio (US airports only, seven-day trial) → https://apps.apple.com/za/app/atc-live-air-traffic-radio/id6755132266 SOURCES Emirates wins approval for Dubai to Berlin after a 22-year push, Simple Flying → https://simpleflying.com/emirates-wins-major-germany-breakthrough-22-year-berlin-push/ ACSA revenue climbs to R8.81 billion, IOL (9 September 2026) → https://iol.co.za/business/2026-09-09-acsas-revenue-climbs-to-r881-billion-as-passenger-numbers-grow/ Announcement of new visa restriction policy, US State Department (15 September 2026) → https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesman/2026/09/announcement-of-new-visa-restriction-policy-targeting-foreign-nationals-involved-in-race-based-discrimination Air Astana resumes Dubai services, TTR Weekly → https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2026/09/air-astana-resumes-dubai-services-2/ Liverpool announce five-year shirt deal with Turkish Airlines, Al Jazeera (8 September 2026) → https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/9/8/liverpool-announce-five-year-shirt-sponsorship-deal-with-turkish-airlines Sydney Airport unveils electric bus fleet, Australian Aviation → https://australianaviation.com.au/2026/09/sydney-airport-unveils-new-electric-bus-fleet/ SUPPORT THE SHOW Every episode, the full back catalogue and everything we talk about on the show lives in one place. If you only click one link today, make it this one. Bryan Air → https://bryanairpodcast.com/ Support on Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/bryanair
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About Bryan Air
I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator these days, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around.This is not a side project. Training pilots is my job, and I believe in the way an airline flight deck works. The structure. The discipline. The way a crew stays calm, works the problem and makes a decision after something goes wrong. Pilots are not born with those habits. They are trained into them, one session at a time, and that means anyone can learn them. They also work for the engine failures of life: the job that disappears, the diagnosis, the decision you have to make with half the information and no time. I want to give you the tools pilots use, so that when your moment comes, you have a proven way to handle it, from the most professional industry in the world.I do this from South Africa, a country I love and refuse to look away from. We sit at the far end of a continent, a long way from eve
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