Aviation’s recovery from its worst-ever crisis is highlighting stress points on infrastructure and workers that have essentially laid fallow for two years. Worldwide, airports and airlines that lost thousands of staff have been swamped by returning passengers, and some pilots are just getting used to being back at the controls.

Airservices Australia, which manages the country’s airspace, and Brisbane Airport last month proposed increasing the allowable tailwind for landings and takeoffs on its parallel runways to 7 knots (13 kilometers per hour) from 5 knots. The change aims to let more flights arrive and depart over the ocean rather than city suburbs. Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said the airport’s proposal is subject to a detailed safety assessment and is being reviewed.

Approaching with a wind coming from behind the plane tends to increase landing speed, leaving pilots with less time and space to handle unexpected events. “Our major concern is it decreases our safety margins,” Lucas said. “If something else happens, I’m running rapidly out of options.”

Accepting a higher threshold for tailwinds also normalises the concept of landing with the wind, making it more likely the change may be introduced in international gateway Sydney, said Lucas. Ultimately, the union could instruct pilots not to land with a tailwind of more than 5 knots, he said.

Lucas, in his first interview since becoming union president this year, also said he’s worried that insufficiently rested A321XLR pilots will be more susceptible to errors when they land after overnight flights to Australia from Asia.

Qantas this month ordered 40 A321XLRs and A220 aircraft from Airbus, with options for 94 more jets over at least a decade.

“Your decision-making is slower, your reaction times are slower, you’re more likely to get a poor landing,” he said. “I think the traveling public would probably prefer their crew to have had a couple of hours sleep in something better than just a domestic business class seat.”

Qantas said the airline is in talks with the union and the regulator about how to manage fatigue on the planes. “We will of course make sure that we have the right protocols in place to ensure safe operation and to look after all our crew,” the airline said in a statement. BM