FY2022/23 embraced the general return to more normal levels of flying operations as COVID-19 travel and social restrictions were removed in UK.

Commercial aviation activities continued their recovery started in Winter 2021/22 as the aviation industry started to benefit from reduced international travel restrictions and returned to more normal operations with fuller schedules being planned. The outstanding feature of the summer period was stress in the system that was induced by a shortage of staff to meet scheduling requirements as airlines attempted to maximise their commercial activities whilst staff were regaining currency and recency after having returned from redundancy or furlough.

For its part, some General Aviation pilots were slightly later than usual in commencing the normal Spring/Summer emergence from Winter hibernation, and although there were also concerns about regaining currency and recency in this sector, for some pilots this was a normal feature of General Aviation flying and so there were often existing processes in place to mitigate the need for extra caution.

During the FY2022-23 period, a total of 647 aviation reports were received and accepted by CHIRP for further progression (not including Bullying, Harassment, Discrimination and Victimisation (BHDV) reports which are counted separately as a special-case activity). This represents just over twice as many reports as in the previous FY reporting period when 282 reports were received and accepted. That being said, overall reporting levels remained slightly depressed compared to pre-COVID-19 years (84% of the FY2019/20 levels).

In addition to the 647 reports accepted, a total of 96 reports were rejected on receipt as having either no safety context, incomplete material that could not be clarified/corroborated due to lack of further contact with the reporter, general complaints (such as drone complaints) terms of service complaints, or matters of personal conflict with managers/peers.

Click on the link below to access the full CHIRP Aviation FY2022/23 Report