Safety Pilot Jussi Ekman
My name is Jussi Ekman and I handle issues involving safety on the Finnair blog.
I have worked in Finnair as a commercial pilot since 1987 and I act also as a safety pilot. My work history could be said to have been on a rising track; my first summer job was as an aircraft cleaner, after which I have worked in Finnair Technical Services and Cargo, and nowadays it’s my honour to skipper our company’s flagship around the world. In terms of my basic education, I have an MSc(Eng) in Aeronautical Engineering.
First of all, I’d like to assure everyone who’s apprehensive about flying: an aircraft truly is one of the safest places in the world. For instance, in the USA approximately 40 000 people loose their lives each year in road accidents, yet globally we loose only about one hundredth of this in commercial air transport.
The most dangerous part of your flight is the journey to the airport. From there on you are in the good care of the world’s safest systems. In the light of statistics alone, there happens one accident per one to two million flights. I myself, after more than two decades’ flying, have managed to gather only one per cent of that number of flights.
Flight safety is not based on statistics, however. It is systematic work in which even the smallest deviations are reported and investigated. We learn from small shortcomings so that bigger problems don’t happen. Even though airlines compete very strongly on the commercial side, they share safety details with each other very openly – thus benefiting the whole sector.
I am involved in international flight safety work and prepare in cooperation with our other experts safety issues for all who need them. In Finnair, flight safety always comes first. A company logo on the side of an aircraft does not in itself make the airline safe, however. This requires systematic risk management, the right kind of safety culture and high quality training, aircraft and maintenance.
Sometimes customers are irritated when a flight is delayed for a technical fault. It only means that the every last, sometimes surprising, details are checked in order to ensure a safe flight. For me, the sky is the place to be. I hope you will feel the same way and enjoy your flight with us!
Jussi Ekman
