Add this topic to your myFT Digest for news straight to your inbox
Captains always have the senior rank, but flight-deck roles can vary
How pilots deal with multiple concepts of speed — and why today’s airliners are no quicker than those 60 years ago
A pilot’s pilgrimage to the newly revamped National Air and Space Museum
As the last Boeing 747 enters service, Mark Vanhoenacker considers how flying the venerable ‘Queen of the Skies’ compares with its newer sibling
I tip my cap to its practicality — and the sense of shared purpose it symbolises
The holiday is both heartwarming and bittersweet for those ensuring millions of travellers reach their loved ones
The humble tablet has revolutionised flying and made aviation more efficient
Ice-cold showers, catnaps and ‘sleep hygiene’: tried-and-tested tactics from a longhaul professional
For Mark Vanhoenacker, cities hold a special significance — and their post-pandemic reawakening is a joy to witness
Storm Eunice saw pilots putting into practice the ‘crabbing’ technique they train for
With every take-off and landing, something remarkable is happening beneath the plane
For pilots, flying in the high Arctic presents unique challenges — and rewards
As the US travel ban lifted on Monday, Mark Vanhoenacker was in the cockpit heading for JFK — and reflecting on what we’ve missed
Frozen deposits spell danger for an aircraft but there are different ways to solve them
Rather than a religious allusion, Venezuela’s Angel Falls is named after a barnstorming Missouri-born pilot
Designed to entertain and impress rather than for navigation, the maps also chart the evolution of aviation
Pilot Mark Vanhoenacker is dazzled by Daxing, Zaha Hadid’s $11bn creation
The minimal maps used by pilots are in stark contrast to today’s vivid seatback displays
‘Only after I started to fly did I realise blueness would be one of my job’s most reliable sources of joy’
From navigation systems to managing teams, commercial airlines have learnt a lot from Nasa
A former terminal now offers accommodation, runway views — and a glimpse of aviation’s golden age
Alcock and Brown’s daring 1919 flight featured storms, a spin and a crash-landing in an Irish bog
From the steady hum (it’s not always the engines) to a ‘dog’ barking in cargo, here’s what those sounds mean
Why your jet is lit like a ship, and other lessons in aircraft illumination
On long flights, pilots hand the controls to the ‘heavy crew’ and retreat to their beds
UK Edition
