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Home » air china » Air China Fires Smoking Pilots, But Will Culture Change?
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Air China Fires Smoking Pilots, But Will Culture Change?

Matthew Klint Posted onJuly 17, 2018November 14, 2023 4 Comments

a plane flying in the air

Last week, I wrote about an Air China 737-800 that rapidly descended due to a loss of cabin pressure. At the time, Air China and Chinese authorities believed it was due to pilots smoking in the flight deck, but the case was still under investigation.

Well, the investigation has been closed. Air China has confirmed that the issue occurred because a pilot accidentally flipped off the air conditioning switch in the cockpit in order to try to hide smoke from his e-cigarette.

Air China has forcefully and publicly terminated not just the smoking first officer, but the captain as well:

After an investigation to verify the incident, the decision is to suspend the related crew from flying and terminate the contracts in accordance with the law. The crew members who are responsible for the incident have been seriously dealt with.

Many are clamoring for the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to revoke the licenses of the pilots involved to ensure they do not wind up on another airline. For its part, the CAAC has seized the 737’s flight data and voice recorders and is conducting its own thorough investigation.

A Change In Culture?

It was appropriate that Air China fire this flight crew. The first officer, naturally, because he was the one smoking and flipped off the air conditioning. But the captain as well. He should have forbid his first officer from smoking and noticed when the a/c switch was flipped off.

But will this very public example and Air China’s strict condemnation of onboard smoking lead to any lasting change? After all, it seems that smoking is so ingrained into the Chinese pilot culture based upon my first-hand observation and numerous reports of others.

While impossible to inspect every flight, Air China’s no-tolerance policy will certainly discourage many pilots from smoking. But what about China Eastern, China Southern, and the dozens of other Chinese airlines? Just as the Chinese Ministry of Health banned all indoor smoking in China a couple years ago, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) should issue its own governmental ban against pilot smoking.

CONCLUSION

I’m generally against smoking bans, but fully support them on airplanes even behind the closed doors of cockpits or crew rest areas. Why? Because the onboard air circulation systems subject everyone onboard to smoke. That is not only uncomfortable, but as we saw with the Air China 737-800 incident, can put the lives of passengers in jeopardy.

> Read More: Air China 737 Rapidly Drops 25,000 Feet
> Read More: Should Pilots Be Allowed To Smoke Onboard?

image: Aero Icarus / Wikimedia Commons

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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4 Comments

  1. Dan Reply
    July 17, 2018 at 11:02 am

    Vaping is not smoking. There is no harmful second hand effects. Should be allowed.

  2. JBJ Reply
    July 17, 2018 at 1:35 pm

    @Dan. Actually there are… It still has nicotine that is emitted on exhale which can cause buildup in components on the aircraft. Don’t be so callous and speak without being an expert.

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/e-cigs-and-second-hand-vaping/

    • Paolo Reply
      July 17, 2018 at 4:55 pm

      Most vaping doesn’t even have nicotine in it, or at such low levels it is not worth mentioning. Fake ‘news’

  3. Paolo Reply
    July 17, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    Get a grip and climb down from that high moral horse. This matter is trivial and the outrage about it is just silly. This was NOT ‘smoking’, but rather harmless vapour. IE, no smoke, no flame, no passive smoking risk. Trivial other than for the switch flipped in error.

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