Ethiopia, for instance. Most of these airlines have remarkably good safety records considering how loosely regulated I would assume they are.
In: Economics
I think that even countries with “crumbling infrastructure” have areas of the government that just work, either because of a financial incentive or because a small group of leaders has made it work. The financial incentives of having a working airline are probably important to them and I’m sure that a group of people has “made it work.”
A lot of the pilots in for example Ethiopia is trained in another country. In fact Florida is a very popular place for pilots to come and learn due to its good weather and many airfields. Similar for aircraft mechanics and inspectors. As for the finances there are a fair bit of income inequality in these places so there is a sizeable upper class who can afford to fly. Most countries with a big airline like Ethiopia also get a lot of foreign passengers, both from other African countries as well as people visiting Africa. The airline pay a lot of taxes and fees to the Ethiopian government which pay for all the inspections and regulations. This is also based on procedures from other countries. So they are not loosely regulated at all.
Firstly
Because air transport is used by the elite of a country and supports commerce and tourism; whilst putting a paved road, clean water and electrify to a remote village doesn’t
Secondly
They don’t
There are plenty of places that are not allowed to fly in EU or US airspace mostly for safety reasons
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_banned_in_the_European_Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_banned_in_the_European_Union)
A lot of the pilots in for example Ethiopia is trained in another country. In fact Florida is a very popular place for pilots to come and learn due to its good weather and many airfields. Similar for aircraft mechanics and inspectors. As for the finances there are a fair bit of income inequality in these places so there is a sizeable upper class who can afford to fly. Most countries with a big airline like Ethiopia also get a lot of foreign passengers, both from other African countries as well as people visiting Africa. The airline pay a lot of taxes and fees to the Ethiopian government which pay for all the inspections and regulations. This is also based on procedures from other countries. So they are not loosely regulated at all.
Airlines are by necessity international and most of them want to be able to fly to Europe.
That’s where The European Union Air Safety List comes in.
If your Airline doesn’t meet the requirements of EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) they will be put on blacklist and banned from their airspace.
That’s really bad for most airlines, so they try really hard to meet those requirements.
In Africa, it is often a point of pride for countries to have a national airline, so they are often supported and subsidized heavily by their respective governments.
In the case of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Airlines has a long-standing history of being a well-managed and professional firm. It was founded in the 1940s, before most countries in Africa even gained independence. Ethiopian Airlines is independently profitable in its own right, and even though it is also a state-owned national airline, over the years its management has seemed to be able to maintain a degree of independence from political turmoil in Ethiopia over the decades.
One “benefit” from standardization is that services in airlines are a global commodity. (ELI5 simplified) There are not too many types of commercial aircraft and pilots are certified on the craft can do so anywhere in the world. They don’t NEED Ethiopian pilots to fly in Ethiopia. Nor do they need Ethiopian engineers to maintain aircraft since the vast majority of aircraft are standardized. A certified maintenance crew for a Airbus A380 is certified internationally and there are companies that will service your craft in various countries.
And the good thing about international transport is that no international airport will allow you to land if you don’t meet their insurance requirements, don’t hire certified pilots and don’t maintain aircraft. So there is this sort of discipline enforced regardless whether the airline is from a rich country or a poor country.
Airlines need to meet stringent international regulations and safety in order to fly internationally due to international treaties.
First off: there are less flights per capita than a wealthy country because most people are too poor to fly so they need less pilots than you might think. Second: a lot of those countries rely on tourism for a significant portion of their economy so having a good flight safety record is an investment that pays dividens. It’s also a relatively cheap infrastructure investment compared to maintaining roads and power grids for millions of people. The airlines are mostly private so they pay to maintain their own planes.
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