Q. Wayne, I read your January article about time and duty. You paint a pretty gruesome picture about life as a regional airline pilot. I’m thinking why would anyone want to be subjected to that kind of lifestyle, wearing a uniform for 16 to 18 hours a day and living out of a suitcase? Do you think things are going to get better as a result of the proposed changes?
A. One of the real challenges of writing this column is being brutally honest without being demoralizing. Too many young and idealistic future airline pilots do not consider the realities. One chap at my local airport flew for Comair, got fed up with the life after a few years, and enrolled in pharmacy school. There are many more stories with similar themes out there.
The message is: Evaluate all of the upsides and downsides. Much like an emerging baseball star, be prepared to spend a few years in the minors, travelling by bus to Oklahoma City for the next game, getting intimate with Super 8s, and receiving peanuts for pay. Why put up with this? So you can make it to the Yankees!
As a reminder, the new time and duty regulations have the support of people who lost family members in the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407. In February 2010, NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman called this tragedy, “an opportunity to reexamine fatigue in aviation.”
The proposed rules call for nine hours of rest between shifts and 30 consecutive hours away from work weekly. Even at this, can any human endure 15 hours of stand-up time daily and function properly? A more gutsy approach, used by several air taxi operators that are very safety conscious, is, simply, “12 hours on; 12 hours off.”
The airlines are grumbling. As an example, American Airlines feels that the fatigue-reducing regulations would require it to hire nearly 2,300 pilots at a cost of more than $500 million annually. It said, “If AA needs 2,300 more pilots to meet the proposed rules, other certificate holders will need many additional pilots, too.” It also said, “The industry figure will be so large as to raise the question of from where they all will come?” The next real pilot shortage is on the horizon and will only be exacerbated by the new time and duty limitations.
It is difficult to express empathy with the airlines on this issue. When a major carrier complains of an additional $500 million annually in pilot costs, one can only speculate about the financial impact of one accident like American Airlines Flight 1420 in Little Rock. The NTSB concluded in part: “Contributing to the accident were the flight crew’s (1) impaired performance resulting from fatigue and the situational stress associated with the intent to land under the circumstances….” Somehow, you would think that the 700 million airline passengers who fly annually would gladly pay an extra $10 each to ensure the crew up front is well-rested for the flight.
We are in a period of change on many fronts, including political and professional. Looking into a crystal ball, it seems as though things can only get better for present and future pilots.
Related Articles
