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  • Bryan Air

    #290 Fuel Is Half Your Ticket Price: Why Flights Are So Expensive Right Now

    DESCRIPTION: Brent crude went back through 100 dollars a barrel on 9 September after the United States and Iran started striking each other again, and it was still above 100 dollars nearly two weeks later. Fuel makes up 50 to 55 percent of what it costs FlySafair to operate a flight. Put those two facts together and you have the reason a family of four is looking at the price of flying to Cape Town this long weekend and quietly getting the car keys out instead. Bryan and Ryan take the fuel story apart from the pilot's side of the door. Why Johannesburg has had a jet fuel supply problem of its own since an unplanned shutdown at the Natref refinery in late August, and what tankering actually means when an airline carries extra fuel into Johannesburg so it does not have to fill up there. Why FlySafair calls tankering a last resort, and why the cost of every contingency ends up in your ticket. Whether the surcharges that came in during March ever really went away when oil dipped. And the question everyone is asking: if you are flying in December, should you book now? Then the guys tell their own low-fuel stories, and these are the best fifteen minutes of the episode. Ryan on a Friday night flight to Windhoek early in his airline career, the weather closing in, and a diversion to Gaborone flown right down to reserves. Bryan on a DC-9 to the Seychelles with his father doing the fuel calculations on a whizz wheel, the numbers getting worse and worse, until they realised his dad's watch had stopped. A CRJ out of East London with the nose gear stuck down, held at 15,000 feet and 250 knots, Bloemfontein closed by weather, and a landing in Johannesburg with about 500 kilograms of fuel left. And Ryan in a medevac Hawker coming home from Mauritius into a 160 knot headwind, when the flight computer said fuel remaining at Lanseria: zero. Also this week: a GPS fault that grounded Azul's Embraer E2 fleet in Brazil for three hours, and why pilots are being told to expect GPS not to work. Boeing's 777X certification slipping into 2027 because the engine fix still needs testing. A missile strike on the fuel storage tanks at Riyadh's airport. Qatar Airways calling this war the biggest crisis in its history and cutting back to routes that make money. And the UK's air traffic control system failing for the second time in two weeks. IN THIS EPISODE Oil back above 100 dollars, and what the jet fuel price is doing to airfares. Johannesburg's jet fuel supply squeeze after the Natref refinery shutdown. Tankering explained: what it is, why airlines avoid it, and who pays for it. Fuel is half the cost of a flight, so every surcharge starts there. What a return ticket to George actually costs this weekend, and why Cape Town on FlySafair still looked reasonable. Getting overseas without paying a fortune: the RwandAir route and flying via the UAE. Should you book December flights now? The guys give an honest answer. Ryan's diversion to Gaborone on reserves, and Bryan's DC-9 fuel scare that turned out to be a stopped watch. Landing a CRJ in Johannesburg with 500 kilograms of fuel, and a medevac Hawker showing fuel remaining zero over the Indian Ocean. The Embraer E2 GPS fault, and why GPS can no longer be trusted blindly. Boeing 777X delayed again, the Riyadh airport fuel depot strike, Qatar Airways in crisis, and the UK's second ATC failure in two weeks. I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around. SOURCES Brent crude tops 100 dollars as US-Iran strikes stoke supply worries, CNBC (9 September 2026) → https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/09/oil-prices-today-wti-brent-us-iran-hormuz-attacks.html Current price of oil as of 21 September 2026, Fortune → https://fortune.com/article/price-of-oil-09-21-2026/ IATA Jet Fuel Price Monitor → https://www.iata.org/en/publications/economics/fuel-monitor/ September 2026 fuel price: petrol up R1.34, diesel up R2.94 inland, Daily Maverick → https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-31-sa-motorists-cant-escape-the-petrol-price-pain-in-september/ FlySafair introduces a temporary fuel surcharge, fuel is 50 to 55 percent of direct operating costs (11 March 2026) → https://news.flysafair.co.za/2026/temporary-fuel-surcharge/ Airlines consider carrying extra jet fuel to avoid disruptions at OR Tambo, EWN (28 August 2026) → https://www.ewn.co.za/2026/08/28/airlines-consider-carrying-extra-jet-fuel-to-avoid-flight-disruptions-at-or-tambo Sasol refinery shutdown curbs Johannesburg jet fuel supply, Moneyweb → https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/industry/sa-airlines-scramble-as-jet-fuel-supply-is-disrupted/ GPS problem halts Azul's Embraer E2 flights for nearly three hours, Air Data News (22 September 2026) → https://www.airdatanews.com/gps-problem-halts-azuls-embraer-e2-flights-for-nearly-three-hours/ Boeing says 777-9 testing could extend into 2027 over GE9X issue, Air Data News (17 September 2026) → https://www.airdatanews.com/boeing-says-777-9-testing-could-extend-into-2027-over-ge-9-x-issue/ Missile hits fuel storage depot at Riyadh airport, Paddle Your Own Kanoo (19 September 2026) → https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2026/09/19/watch-missile-hits-fuel-storage-depot-at-riyadh-international-airport-sending-huge-plume-of-black-smoke-into-sky/ Qatar Airways faces biggest crisis in 30 years amid Iran conflict, Aviation A2Z (21 September 2026) → https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2026/09/21/qatar-airways-faces-biggest-crisis-in-30-years-amid-iran-conflict/ Ryanair demands NATS chief resign after second ATC failure in two weeks, AeroXplorer → https://aeroxplorer.com/articles/ryanair-demands-nats-chief-resign-after-second-air-traffic-control-failure-in-two-weeks.php SUPPORT THE SHOW Every episode, the full back catalogue and everything we talk about on the show lives in one place. If you only click one link today, make it this one. Bryan Air → https://bryanairpodcast.com/ Support on Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/bryanair

    Today · 29 min· Video
  • Bryan Air

    A Pilot Explains: 1 In 8 Airline Pilots Are Depressed, Why We Hide It And What It Costs At Home

    DESCRIPTION One in eight airline pilots is depressed. More than half of us have avoided a doctor to protect our licence. This is why pilots stay silent, what it costs at home, and where to get help. This is A Pilot Explains: one story, sixteen minutes, told from the flight deck. We are trained to report every defect on the aircraft, and nobody trains us to report one on ourselves. This episode is for the men who fly you home tonight: the contract pilot who walks through his front door and gets looked at like a visitor, and the local pilot who is at the dinner table every evening and not really there. South Africa held a National Aviation Gender Summit last month, and that is real progress. There is no summit for the other 80%, so Bryan does the one thing nobody else has scheduled. IN THIS EPISODE The homecoming nobody talks about, on a long-haul contract or a local roster Why there is no summit for men, and the 120-year-old programme called wind your neck in and push on The Harvard survey: one in eight airline pilots depressed, one in 25 with thoughts of being better off dead The 2022 survey of 3,765 pilots: 56% have avoided a doctor to protect their medical certificate Why the licence is not a qualification but an identity, and why that keeps pilots quiet The Germanwings report, and the fear it named as a contributing factor Joseph Emerson: six years of hidden depression, the jump seat over Oregon, and what he said afterwards The family cost: what 300 pilots said about coming home, and the contract life nobody has studied South Africa's three airline closures, the Gulf job, and Bryan's own two years in a flat in Johannesburg The Gulf numbers: 68% severely fatigued, 45% asleep at the controls at least once What is changing: Europe's mandatory peer support, the FAA antidepressant list, and the real denial rate of one in 1,000 Mayday SA, the 24-hour peer support line for South African pilots, running since 2013 The one-line checklist: pick one person and say one true sentence I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around. IF YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO Mayday SA, 24-hour peer support for South African licence holders → 012 333 6000 (from outside SA: +27 12 333 6000) Mayday SA website → https://mayday-sa.org.za/ SADAG Suicide Crisis Line, 24 hours → 0800 567 567 SOURCES Wu et al., Airplane pilot mental health and suicidal thoughts, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Environmental Health, 2016 → https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-016-0200-6 Hoffman et al., Healthcare avoidance in aircraft pilots due to concern for aeromedical certificate loss, survey of 3,765 pilots, 2022 → https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35166258/ FAA Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee, Final Report, April 2024 → https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/Mental_Health_ARC_Final_Report_RELEASED.pdf BEA Final Report, Germanwings Airbus A320 D-AIPX, 24 March 2015 → https://bea.aero/uploads/tx_elydbrapports/BEA2015-0125.en-LR.pdf Multnomah County District Attorney, Joseph Emerson plea, Horizon Air Flight 2059 → https://www.mcda.us/index.php/news/former-alaska-airlines-pilot-pleads-no-contest-to-trying-to-shut-down-horizon-flight-2059-engines-over-oregon Avis, Bor and Eriksen, The Impact of Work on Pilots' Personal Relationships, Centre for Aviation Psychology, London, 2019 → https://doi.org/10.1027/2192-0923/a000157 Aljurf et al., Sleepiness, fatigue and depression among Gulf airline pilots, Sleep and Breathing, 2017 → https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1565-7 LSE survey of 7,239 European pilots on fatigue and wellbeing, BALPA, 2016 → https://www.balpa.org/2016/12/07/london-school-of-economics-survey-reveals-pilots-feel-fatigue-not-taken-seriously-by-airlines/ EASA, pilot support programme requirement, Regulation (EU) 2018/1042 → https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/newsroom-and-events/news/application-requirements-commission-regulation-eu-20181042-deferred FAA approved antidepressant medications for pilots → https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/app_process/exam_tech/item47/amd/antidepressants SUPPORT THE SHOW Bryan Air → https://bryanairpodcast.com/ Support on Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/bryanair

    Today · 16 min· Video
  • Bryan Air

    A Pilot Explains: 1 In 8 Airline Pilots Are Depressed, Why We Hide It And What It Costs At Home

    DESCRIPTION One in eight airline pilots is depressed. More than half of us have avoided a doctor to protect our licence. This is why pilots stay silent, what it costs at home, and where to get help. This is A Pilot Explains: one story, sixteen minutes, told from the flight deck. We are trained to report every defect on the aircraft, and nobody trains us to report one on ourselves. This episode is for the men who fly you home tonight: the contract pilot who walks through his front door and gets looked at like a visitor, and the local pilot who is at the dinner table every evening and not really there. South Africa held a National Aviation Gender Summit last month, and that is real progress. There is no summit for the other 80%, so Bryan does the one thing nobody else has scheduled. IN THIS EPISODE The homecoming nobody talks about, on a long-haul contract or a local roster Why there is no summit for men, and the 120-year-old programme called wind your neck in and push on The Harvard survey: one in eight airline pilots depressed, one in 25 with thoughts of being better off dead The 2022 survey of 3,765 pilots: 56% have avoided a doctor to protect their medical certificate Why the licence is not a qualification but an identity, and why that keeps pilots quiet The Germanwings report, and the fear it named as a contributing factor Joseph Emerson: six years of hidden depression, the jump seat over Oregon, and what he said afterwards The family cost: what 300 pilots said about coming home, and the contract life nobody has studied South Africa's three airline closures, the Gulf job, and Bryan's own two years in a flat in Johannesburg The Gulf numbers: 68% severely fatigued, 45% asleep at the controls at least once What is changing: Europe's mandatory peer support, the FAA antidepressant list, and the real denial rate of one in 1,000 Mayday SA, the 24-hour peer support line for South African pilots, running since 2013 The one-line checklist: pick one person and say one true sentence I'm Bryan Roseveare. I was an airline captain. I still go to work on the flight deck. It's just a full flight simulator now, and the pilots I train are the ones who fly you around. IF YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO Mayday SA, 24-hour peer support for South African licence holders → 012 333 6000 (from outside SA: +27 12 333 6000) Mayday SA website → https://mayday-sa.org.za/ SADAG Suicide Crisis Line, 24 hours → 0800 567 567 SOURCES Wu et al., Airplane pilot mental health and suicidal thoughts, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Environmental Health, 2016 → https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-016-0200-6 Hoffman et al., Healthcare avoidance in aircraft pilots due to concern for aeromedical certificate loss, survey of 3,765 pilots, 2022 → https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35166258/ FAA Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee, Final Report, April 2024 → https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/Mental_Health_ARC_Final_Report_RELEASED.pdf BEA Final Report, Germanwings Airbus A320 D-AIPX, 24 March 2015 → https://bea.aero/uploads/tx_elydbrapports/BEA2015-0125.en-LR.pdf Multnomah County District Attorney, Joseph Emerson plea, Horizon Air Flight 2059 → https://www.mcda.us/index.php/news/former-alaska-airlines-pilot-pleads-no-contest-to-trying-to-shut-down-horizon-flight-2059-engines-over-oregon Avis, Bor and Eriksen, The Impact of Work on Pilots' Personal Relationships, Centre for Aviation Psychology, London, 2019 → https://doi.org/10.1027/2192-0923/a000157 Aljurf et al., Sleepiness, fatigue and depression among Gulf airline pilots, Sleep and Breathing, 2017 → https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1565-7 LSE survey of 7,239 European pilots on fatigue and wellbeing, BALPA, 2016 → https://www.balpa.org/2016/12/07/london-school-of-economics-survey-reveals-pilots-feel-fatigue-not-taken-seriously-by-airlines/ EASA, pilot support programme requirement, Regulation (EU) 2018/1042 → https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/newsroom-and-events/news/application-requirements-commission-regulation-eu-20181042-deferred FAA approved antidepressant medications for pilots → https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/app_process/exam_tech/item47/amd/antidepressants SUPPORT THE SHOW Bryan Air → https://bryanairpodcast.com/ Support on Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/bryanair

    Today · 16 min· Video
  • In The Hangar Podcast with Dan and Chelsea

    WORST Flight Ever?

    What was your WORST Flight ever? What was your best? Dan and Chelsea look through their logbooks to talk about the best and worst flight they done.

    Yesterday · 41 min· Video

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