00:00When you're flying fewer planes, that also means you need fewer pilots.
00:05They have been retiring older parts of their fleet, so older planes, more quickly than intended.
00:13In particular, we're looking at the A330, which is a wide body.
00:17Those planes were never put into service because when the war started,
00:22the airline just pulled all of these old A330s out of service because they needed to cut down capacity in
00:27flights.
00:28So Qatar now has all of these A330 pilots that haven't, in some cases, flown since the end of February,
00:37since the war began.
00:38So they are now setting up this secondment program and moving some of these pilots to fly for Rwandair,
00:47which is, you know, a completely different part of the world.
00:51So these pilots are based in Doha.
00:54Their families are in Doha, but for a good chunk of every month, they'll be flying from Kigali.
01:03I think in some ways this is allowing airlines to speed up the retirement of older, less efficient planes,
01:11because since COVID, there's been a real issue with airlines waiting for new plane deliveries.
01:18And the newer the plane, the more efficient they are.
01:21That means they burn less jet fuel.
01:23And of course, right now, that's kind of the key issue is the cost of jet fuel, right?
01:27So I think by retiring these older planes that burn a lot more jet fuel,
01:32they're also keeping their costs down.
01:35And then it means that they're speeding up, taking in the newer planes that are available
01:41because they want those jet fuel savings.
01:43They want to burn less jet fuel and fly more passengers, which is ultimately what's being promised.
01:48So I think that whole process is moving more quickly.
01:52I think in general, the trend in Europe, in the Middle East, all around the world, is that we will
01:58see less capacity.
02:01So likely fewer planes flying, airlines cutting back on routes that don't make as much money or that aren't seen
02:08as essential.
02:09And generally, a real focus on efficiency, making sure that, you know, the right customers are flying.
02:18Fundamentally, in the Middle East, the difference that exists compared to the European carriers is that there's really a need
02:26to convince customers that the region is safe to fly in.
02:29And that, you know, these carriers can be trusted and that governments can be trusted to ensure commercial aviation is
02:35safe.
02:36And I think given the unpredictability of the current situation, that's something that a lot of customers and consumers are
02:43still struggling to accept.
02:46And I think, you know, the European carriers don't have to worry about that.
02:50I think longer term, the whole tourism sector in that region and, you know, people using those hubs as transit
02:57hubs, that all needs to rebuild.
03:00There needs to be a lot of trust rebuilt and sense that the region is stable, which no one really
03:06knows at this point what's going to happen.
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