Lifestyle & Travels

Recent Episodes

CNN Business Traveller

SHOW #85

Airline Pilots

The recent aircraft incidents in the past few weeks have put the spotlight on the airline industry, specifically on pilots -- the Northwest pilots who missed their destination airport by 150 miles because they were on their laptops, and the Delta plane that landed by mistake on the taxiway instead of the runway. So this month's CNN Business Traveller is all about pilots - who have the gargantuan responsibility of getting safely from A to B.We explore whether too much is expected from pilots - are they overworked or has the cockpit become too clever for its own good?

To help us get an insight to how pilots are trained and the intricacies involved, CNN Business Traveller spends some time in Abu Dhabi - home of national carrier Etihad. The airline's celebrating its sixth birthday and the graduation of the first cadet pilots of its flight training program. We get to speak to the cadets who are itching to flyas well as towell-seasoned pilots about their favorite planes and airports. CNN's Richard Quest caught up with the man behind the program, chief executive James Hogan.

TOXIC AIR

CNN Business Traveller investigates whether the air we breathe onboard can be harmful to pilots and passengers.

Nausea, numbness in fingers and feet, memory loss – just some of the symptoms of Aerotoxic Syndrome. Scientific evidence suggests that the cause of these symptoms is directly linked to unfiltered air from aircraft engines that enter the cockpit and cabin. In simple terms,there is a wet side and a dry side in the engine. Sometimes when the dry side gets wet, perhaps through a leak, fumes contaminate the air onboard as it is fed directly into the cabin and re-circulated through the air conditioning system.

The cause of the physical and cognitive impairment of pilots has not been proven to be from the engine 'bleed air', but mounting scientific research that has been peer-reviewed suggests there could be a link. 26 pilots suffering from the same symptoms had their blood tested and the results showed the prescence of organophosphates in their blood.

CNN's Ayesha Durgahee investigates whether the air we breathe onboard can be harmful to pilots and passengers.

EARNING YOUR STRIPES

What does it take to be a pilot? What kind of skills do you need to make it from cadet to captain? Richard Quest goes head to head with Ayesha Durgahee taking mental agility tests and taking off and landing in the $20-million dollar simulators at Etihad's flight training academy to see who has the most potential to be a pilot.