Management of Pandemic Disruptions in Flight Operations

Abstract

This Master's thesis is an extensive literature review on pandemic management in Finnish flight operations. It aims to answer the following four research questions. First, how is pandemic preparedness and management of Finnish air operators currently regulated. Second, have these regulatory requirements been effective for the management of past SARS and H1N1 pandemics as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic. Third, what type of risk a pandemic event represents to air operations. And fourth, what beneficial lessons can be learned from past and current pandemics in order to cope with them better in the future. The pandemics of SARS, H1N1 and COVID-19 were used as reference cases in this study. Based on this study the following key results and conclusions can be presented. Firstly, pandemic management in flight operations is currently regulated by global and Finnish national level legislation. Present requirements produce a thorough basis for preparedness of air operators, but can be considered lacking in details. Loose legislation on global level leaves individual countries with room for interpretation and possibility to adapt common requirements to country-specifics. On the other hand, this can be considered a major disadvantage. World Health Organization has repeatedly pleaded global community for unison pandemic response, because it is the only viable approach to effective containment of pandemics. Therefore, any room in legislation left for improvisation undermines the goal of common coordinated actions. As of 2020, no common EU level aviation-specific requirements on preparedness for air operators exists. This fact clearly stands out, because in general aviation is considered a very explicitly regulated domain. On the other hand, Finnish legislation has so far included only basic aviation-specific preparedness requirements. During COVID-19 they were complemented with detailed guidance for air operators that aims to improve their preparedness for future disruptions, such as pandemics. Another deficiency identified by this research is the lack of Finnish National Aviation Preparedness Plan that is required of all states by ICAO on global level. Due to these issues, among others, the effectiveness of current legislation on pandemic management for flight operations is considered to be questionable. However, it is important to notice, that each new requirement brings also additional compliance burden to its subjects. Therefore, in regulatory work, balance should be sought between the efforts and resources their implementation requires and the benefits they provide. Overall, seven practical improvement suggestions for current legislation were derived based on this research. In addition to them, other practical contribution as well as many lessons that were learned during SARS, H1N1 and COVID-19 pandemics are provided. In terms of scientific contribution, this study produced an interesting viewpoint that a pandemic, although a threat from outside of aviation sector, can in fact fit several existing risk categories relevant for air operations. In addition, numerous areas for further scientific research are suggested.