S7 Airlines Takes Drastic Action After Too Many Hard Landings
Russia's S7 Airlines has introduced one of the most eyebrow-raising pilot policies seen in commercial aviation in recent years. The carrier has effectively banned its first officers — also known as co-pilots — from performing landings at the vast majority of its network airports. From now until at least October 1, 2026, only captains are permitted to land the aircraft at nearly all of S7's destinations. The policy, which follows a series of hard landing incidents, raises serious questions about pilot training standards, fleet condition, and the broader state of Russian commercial aviation.
What Exactly Is the New S7 Airlines Rule?
Under the newly implemented policy, first officers at S7 Airlines are only permitted to perform landings at four of the carrier's largest hub airports. Those airports are Irkutsk (IKT), Moscow Domodedovo (DME), Novosibirsk (OVB), and Vladivostok (VVO). At every other airport in the airline's network, the responsibility for landing the aircraft falls exclusively on the captain. The rule is currently set to remain in effect through October 1, 2026, though it could be extended depending on how the situation develops.
The story was first reported by Russian aviation channel Aviatorschina and subsequently flagged by the German aviation publication aeroTELEGRAPH. While S7 Airlines has not made a sweeping public statement about the change, the policy itself is a significant operational departure from standard commercial airline procedures practiced around the world.
How Do Pilot Duties Normally Work on Commercial Flights?
To understand why this rule is so unusual, it helps to understand how pilot duties are typically structured on a commercial flight. On virtually every scheduled commercial airline operation, you will find two fully qualified pilots in the cockpit: a captain and a first officer. While the captain holds ultimate authority over the aircraft, both pilots are trained and certified to perform every aspect of the flight, including takeoffs and landings.
In standard practice, the two pilots alternate who acts as the "pilot flying" and who acts as the "pilot monitoring" on each leg. On one segment, the captain may handle the controls while the first officer manages radio communications and reads checklists. On the next segment, those roles are reversed. This rotation is not simply a matter of convenience — it is considered essential for maintaining the hands-on flying proficiency of both crew members. Restricting either pilot from performing landings on a routine basis goes against the grain of modern flight crew resource management philosophy.
Why Is This Happening? The Hard Landing Problem
S7 Airlines apparently made this decision in direct response to a concerning number of hard landing incidents attributed to first officers. A hard landing occurs when an aircraft touches down with a higher-than-normal vertical descent rate, creating a significant impact force on the airframe, landing gear, and associated structures. While occasional firm touchdowns are a normal part of flying — particularly in challenging weather or at certain airports — a pattern of hard landings is cause for serious concern.
Hard landings are not just uncomfortable for passengers. They can cause genuine structural damage to an aircraft, requiring what is known as a "hard landing inspection" before the plane can return to service. Depending on the severity, these inspections can ground an aircraft for hours or even days, costing airlines significant amounts in maintenance fees and lost revenue. If an airline is experiencing a pattern of hard landings, the financial and safety implications compound quickly.
Is This a Training Problem or a Fleet Problem — or Both?
The situation at S7 Airlines invites a pointed question: is this fundamentally a pilot training issue, or does it reflect the deteriorating condition of the airline's aircraft fleet? The honest answer is that it may well be both, and the two issues are not entirely separate.
Russian airlines have faced extraordinary challenges in maintaining their fleets since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Western sanctions cut off Russian carriers from access to new Western-built aircraft, spare parts, and most crucially, manufacturer-backed maintenance support for aircraft made by Boeing and Airbus. S7 Airlines, like other Russian carriers, has been forced to cannibalize parts from some aircraft to keep others flying, and to rely on alternative supply chains of questionable reliability.
Aircraft that are not properly maintained may handle differently than expected, particularly during the critical phases of approach and landing. If certain systems related to flight controls, hydraulics, or spoiler deployment are not functioning optimally, even a skilled pilot could struggle to achieve consistently smooth touchdowns. This context does not excuse poor technique, but it complicates the narrative of simply blaming pilot skill.
At the same time, the fact that the policy specifically targets first officers — and not captains — does suggest the airline believes pilot experience and proficiency are at least part of the equation. First officers are, by definition, less experienced than captains. If first officers have been struggling disproportionately with landings, it may point to gaps in simulator training, inadequate line training, or an accelerated promotion pipeline that has placed less-prepared pilots in co-pilot seats.
What Does This Mean for Passengers?
For passengers flying S7 Airlines, the practical takeaway is straightforward: your landing will almost always be handled by the most senior pilot in the cockpit. Whether that provides significant additional reassurance is debatable, but the policy does reflect the airline taking concrete action in response to a documented safety pattern.
It is worth noting that S7 Airlines was previously a member of the oneworld airline alliance, a status it lost following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. The airline had built a reputation as one of Russia's more modern and professionally run carriers. The current policy represents a notable step backward from operational norms that the airline had previously aligned with international best practices.
A Broader Warning Sign for Russian Aviation
The S7 Airlines first officer landing ban is more than a curiosity — it is a symptom of the wider pressures bearing down on Russian commercial aviation. Sanctions, fleet degradation, reduced access to training technology and simulators, and the broader brain drain affecting Russia's professional classes have all contributed to an environment where maintaining international-standard operations is increasingly difficult.
Whether this particular policy achieves its intended goal of reducing hard landing incidents remains to be seen. But it serves as a vivid illustration of how geopolitical decisions have tangible, ground-level consequences for the safety and operational integrity of an industry where the margin for error is razor-thin.