Interview: B.Baatarmunkh “Three airports, like Khanbumbat, will transform our civil aviation”

– A skilled pilot is not a pilot who has the best flying skills, they are a pilot who makes the right decisions –

We interviewed B.Baatarmunkh, an Eznis Airways pilot. We talked about the new generation of Mongolian pilots and the current state of Mongolian civil aviation – successes, challenges and prospects for the future.

Can you introduce yourself to our readers?
I studied in 2001-2005 at the Michigan University, in the US, and graduated as a professional pilot. After graduation, I stayed on at the college as a flight instructor for four years. I spent about nine years there in total. In 2010, I returned to Mongolia and have worked for Eznis Airways for over three years. I flew SAAB 340 and Avro RJ85 aircraft. I also work as the Deputy Director of Flights and in the Production department in our company.

Who can become a flight instructor?
In America, private and commercial pilots have several types of licenses. Commercial pilot certificate holders can work as an assistant or second pilot in commercial airlines. After more training, you can obtain a flight instructor license. Flight instructors teach trainees to fly on small planes. Our college used 32 one-engine and about 10 two-engine aircraft for training. In the first year, I taught in a four-seat, one-engine aircraft, then graduated to two-engine planes and after that I began to teach aerobatics. Finally, I taught courses for flight instructor certificates. After finishing these flight courses, I returned to Mongolia. In total, I flew 1,500 hours as a flight instructor.

How do you train, do you just fly a plane? How different is American flight training from other countries?
If we speak about the daily work routine, in the morning I meet with the trainee for 30 minutes and talk about the day’s practice. Then check if the trainee has understood correctly. If not, then I’ll teach him again, after that I check the weather and give a flight plan to the flight control. Then the trainee prepares the aircraft under my supervision. If the plane is ready to fly after checking, we spend on average about 1-1.5 hours flying. This includes many types of training, eg. takeoff and landing techniques, various air manoeuvres and how to save the falling aircraft experiencing a loss of power. Trainees were primarily American kids, but also there were people from Japan and India. I was the first student from Mongolia at our college. Most kids failed 2-3 classes and needed to retake them. As for me, until the graduation I made over 100 flights without ever needing to repeat. Currently, pilots are taught both in the US and in Europe. In Europe, there are high requirements for theory. American training specifies that in order to become an airline pilot, you need to firstly have a private pilot license, then a commercial pilot license, then become a flight instructor and work for 2-3 years as a flight instructor. This means flying about 1,500-2,000 hours as a flight instructor. To gain this much experience, only the best students stay committed and the rest of students will say, 'this is not a job that suits me' and leave.

Does our aircraft fleet get new additions? How close are we to meeting previous goals?
Our company is starting to reach the goals we set. There are relatively few aircraft suited to Mongolian weather conditions. Previously, the Russian Antonov An-24 aircraft matched the criteria. Although, plane uses too much fuel, needs frequent maintenance and economically is not very efficient. Western aircraft have low fuel requirements and good economics. Our country needs planes that can take off and reach high altitude with a full load of people. Today only the Q400 aircraft meet the criteria. Our country has many high altitude places and thin air, therefore some planes cannot fly while fully loaded. Some aimag airports have unpaved runways. Only a few aircraft such as SAAB 340, Avro RJ85 can land in such places, and these aircraft are usually old. This further limits aircraft procurement choices for the airlines. 'Chinggis Khan' airport itself is also very limiting. There are high mountains to the south; so landing is only possible from the north while takeoff is only possible from the south. No landing is possible when there are winds from the north. The Q400 aircraft we fly is 30 per cent better than its competitors, because it can land in windy conditions. Landing at the airport in difficult conditions requires much skill from the pilot. We say that a skilled pilot is not a pilot who has the best flying skills, they are a pilot who makes the right decisions.

At which stage of development is Mongolian civil aviation, compared to other countries?
Our country is a large territory and therefore there is a stressing need to develop our civil aviation. As for the level of development, I think the professionals will agree that we lag behind. Particularly in the areas of infrastructure and satellite navigation, but it’s possible to catch up. We also need to improve the training of pilots, engineers and air traffic controllers. Training systems are not perfect and we are lagging in the area of evaluating and assessing professional skills. If training and assessment systems are improved, Mongolian pilots will be accepted everywhere and can even become leaders. Currently there are about 100 pilots in the Mongolian civil aviation. About 20 of them are pilots who graduated from American flight schools after 2000. Today, Mongolian civil aviation is in a transit stage from the Russian to the western system. As for the airports, of course we need to improve them.

Oyu Tolgoi has built and commissioned a new airport. What do you think about this airport?
Oyu Tolgoi’s ‘Khanbumbat’ airport has the best runways and best passenger terminal in Mongolia. This airport has many advantages, such as good infrastructure and good load bearing capacity of the pavement for the landing and takeoff runways. The bearing strength of the pavement is better than Chinggis Khan airport, so large aircraft can land there. This is a big step in the development of Mongolian civil aviation. It’s a very useful airport both to airlines and for passengers.

In which ways is it useful? After all, passengers often think that it’s useful only when air fares are cheap?
One can land or take off from 'Khanbumbat' airport from two directions. There are no obstacles nearby which is good. If the aircraft has obstacles in front during take off, one needs to guarantee that you can gain altitude abruptly and recover after that. For this reason, an estimate is made of how many people can be aboard for the takeoff. For example, at an airport with obstacles, an aircraft with 74 seats can takeoff with only 50 passengers on board. However, in “Khanbumbat”, the runways are long and taxying can last longer. After takeoff, there is no need for an abrupt altitude gain which means that more people can be transported. For the airline, the costs are the same, regardless of the number of passengers on board. Therefore, if costs are split among more people, the ticket price can be made cheaper. So it’s useful for people in this manner. Three airports like Khanbumbat will transform our civil aviation.

Can ‘Khanbumbat’ be used as an alternate airport?
Yes. It’s built in a dry place with low precipitation. The passenger terminal is modern and meets all the requirements. If equipment breaks in a large aircraft, a long landing runway is needed. If a runway is long, landing will be less risky. For this reason, ‘Khanbumbat’ is more advantageous. In my view, Oyu Tolgoi has made a large investment, very beneficial both to Mongolia and to civil aviation.

Many kids and young people dream of becoming pilots. What personal traits should they have in order to succeed?
First of all, you need to love your profession. During the four years in America as a flight instructor, I helped 20 kids become pilots and 11 to become flight instructors. Some of them came for the wrong reasons, such as prestige or a high salary. In flight school, you have to read many books. If you are not interested, you will not read or study and cannot become a pilot. On the other hand, a person who wants to become a pilot must have good health. In my view, a prospective student should be bright, brave, interested in sports such as riding fast motorcycles or bikes or skiing and also good at math subjects. There used to be a requirement for good vision, but recently it became possible for pilots to wear eyeglasses.