LONDON/COPENHAGEN/BEIRUT ¨C Airline pilots have faced escalating risks in recent years, from drone incursions to flight paths squeezed by conflict. Now U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran are making the skies even more perilous and ratcheting up the pressure on those flying through them.
The outbreak of war in the Middle East has put hundreds of ballistic missiles and attack drones into the skies above some of the world¡¯s busiest airports. Tehran¡¯s retaliation against the U.S. and its allies has included hitting airports, grounding scores of flights from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. A trickle of rescue flights has made it through for thousands of stranded passengers.
Eight pilots and more than a half-dozen aviation and security insiders said the accumulation of conflicts ¡ª from Ukraine to Afghanistan and Israel ¡ª has increased the burden on pilots, forcing them to manage shrinking airspace and the wider use of military drones far from active war zones. That¡¯s increased the strain on the mental health of pilots desperate to keep themselves and their passengers safe.
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