I apologize in advance if this comes out as a loaded question and I don’t mean it as a jab to those countries, I am genuinely curious about the technical and operational aspects behind it.

You are probably aware of the situation that Venezuela has been in for a decade, and Afghanistan since 2021, but it seems like they still have airlines that operate wide body jets and airports with functional ILS and other high-maintenance systems. How does it work? How do they find spare parts, how do their crew get training, how do they get certifications? I heard that Turkey is trying to build a strategic partnership with both regimes, so maybe Turkish Airlines is supplying them with knowhow, but that’s pure speculation on my part.

The question can be extended to other countries that have similar problems, but these two are the most prominent examples that I could think of.

The reason for "black market" and unapproved parts.....fly at risk......
You'd probably be amazed at how parts get funneled through different handlers and countries to finally arrive at these operators.
Sometimes money and favors can go a long way on getting things and people ignored during the receipt of their training....

Even in countries like Venezuela and Afghanistan the government is still capable of carrying out certain functions. In many countries (don't know about these two specifically) ATC services are provided by the military and the international airport may double as a military base of some sort (same is true for the many "joint use" airports in the U.S.). Airports in these countries tend to be heavily guarded and access tightly controlled to ensure they remain functional.

As far as aircraft maintenance, heavily sanctioned countries like Iran rely on two main channels for spare parts: Cannibalizing their own fleets and various "unofficial" sources.

ArcticFlyer wrote:

Even in countries like Venezuela and Afghanistan the government is still capable of carrying out certain functions. In many countries (don't know about these two specifically) ATC services are provided by the military and the international airport may double as a military base of some sort (same is true for the many "joint use" airports in the U.S.). Airports in these countries tend to be heavily guarded and access tightly controlled to ensure they remain functional.

As far as aircraft maintenance, heavily sanctioned countries like Iran rely on two main channels for spare parts: Cannibalizing their own fleets and various "unofficial" sources.

What about the crew, both on the ground and skies? How can they find qualified personnel in countries in such turmoil and poverty? And why don't they try to escape to better places given their skillset?

Trimeresurus wrote:

ArcticFlyer wrote:

Even in countries like Venezuela and Afghanistan the government is still capable of carrying out certain functions. In many countries (don't know about these two specifically) ATC services are provided by the military and the international airport may double as a military base of some sort (same is true for the many "joint use" airports in the U.S.). Airports in these countries tend to be heavily guarded and access tightly controlled to ensure they remain functional.

As far as aircraft maintenance, heavily sanctioned countries like Iran rely on two main channels for spare parts: Cannibalizing their own fleets and various "unofficial" sources.

What about the crew, both on the ground and skies? How can they find qualified personnel in countries in such turmoil and poverty? And why don't they try to escape to better places given their skillset?

In many countries, for example in sub-Saharan Africa, contract pilots are a big feature. Many of my colleagues have flown contract in countries like Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Papua New Guinea. Depending on the job, the pay isn't necessarily great, but it's a good way to build hours.

My impression is that local pilots from those countries are typically thin on the ground, probably because the educational infrastructure is not really in place.

Starlionblue wrote:

Trimeresurus wrote:

ArcticFlyer wrote:

Even in countries like Venezuela and Afghanistan the government is still capable of carrying out certain functions. In many countries (don't know about these two specifically) ATC services are provided by the military and the international airport may double as a military base of some sort (same is true for the many "joint use" airports in the U.S.). Airports in these countries tend to be heavily guarded and access tightly controlled to ensure they remain functional.

As far as aircraft maintenance, heavily sanctioned countries like Iran rely on two main channels for spare parts: Cannibalizing their own fleets and various "unofficial" sources.

What about the crew, both on the ground and skies? How can they find qualified personnel in countries in such turmoil and poverty? And why don't they try to escape to better places given their skillset?

In many countries, for example in sub-Saharan Africa, contract pilots are a big feature. Many of my colleagues have flown contract in countries like Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Papua New Guinea. Depending on the job, the pay isn't necessarily great, but it's a good way to build hours.

My impression is that local pilots from those countries are typically thin on the ground, probably because the educational infrastructure is not really in place.

But they also need a lot of support personnel on the ground to keep both the aircraft and the airports functioning. Also especially in Venezuela, anyone who has access to airplanes would be big targets for the gangs for kidnapping, so they'd need to have security basically 24 hours as well.

It's still fascinating to me that something as expensive and technical expertise requiring as aviation can still exist in failed states like that, and not just GA but the big jets as well.