DVR Alert

PBS is going to run a special about the Colgan crash in Buffalo, and Regional airline safety in general.

"Flying Cheap" will air on PBS on February 9th. No specific time or channel is mentioned.

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/a ... tml#201968

Just by the name, it sounds like it will be very biased. Hmmmmm.

Watching presently - seems like they're addressing the structural issues and operational challenges (troubles) of regional carriers and their relationships with national airlines. Who knew "Crash Pads" existed? :?:

The crash pads were a disgrace. In this day and age I can't believe any pilot regional or not is making less than 26k. It's a shame. Your telling me a person who goes through all that training and expense is making less than 20k? It just isn't right.

It's not just regional pilots who use crash pads. Many junior pilots for the majors who commute or are on reserve at a base away from their real home city utilize crash pads too.

I'll give credit where it's due, I think Miles O'Brien actually did a very good job on this.

Just watched this. Pretty good. You can watch it online here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... heap/view/

Conclusions:
> The president of the Regional Airline Association is a tool.

> Colgan probably shouldn't be in business.

> Contracts that require regionals to complete flights in order to get paid by mainline carriers should maybe be outlawed, or at least restricted

> The show suggests putting major airlines in charge of the safety of their regional affiliates, but that seems like a weak solution to me: their ultimate goal is always going to be doing things a cheaply as possible. The root of the problem is the FAA simply not doing its job. That is what has to change.

All I can say after watching that is wow. Scary.

It’s a double edge sword...you want low fares you are going to have low paid staff. If you want quality skilled people you're going to pay for it in the fares.

From a passenger standpoint it's buyer beware. When you book a flight you need to be aware of who you are flying. Say what you want but that's why I try stick with American. American Eagle is owned by AMR and the standards are pretty strict and consistent with American mainline. When was the last time an Eagle flight went down? If you are going to fly UAL, CAL, US, or DL and you get on an RJ you could be flying with a $hit operation.

Tommy is right, you think deregulation was such a good thing and all those high fares were bad well this just shows you the bad side of the equation. Colgan has shown us what can happen when you go cheap and try to cut corners. Unfortunately people die

Tommy, I wouldnt exactly knock CAL's Expressjet guys. Expressjet is actually a pretty seinor and experinced group of guys. Getting in the door when every regional was going nuts hiring was hard there from what I remember. I have a few friends who went there and the lowest total time of them all was 855 with an SIC in Lears.

If you missed it you can watch it free & legally here http://video.iptv.org/video/1412744270

Sunday April 25 9 pm National Geographic Channel (Cablevision 162)

CUT IN HALF: Airplane

Airplanes and commercial air travel is so common but taken for granted. How do these fantastically complicated machines really work? To find out, we decided to cut one in half. But not just any plane -- a Boeing 727 passenger jet. Host Eric Stromer jumps in to dissect various parts of the plane and learn more about how all the systems work together to make air travel safe and reliable. He cuts open everything from a black box, a tire, and a cockpit door, to a passenger window and first class and coach seats. We'll also use outrageous tests and cutting edge animation to examine some of the more unusual aspects of air travel, like bird strikes and blue ice -- all to provide a never-before-seen look at airplanes, from the inside out.

Read more: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/s ... z0lpU37UgL

I've said it before numerous times, and I will continue to say it. All politics aside, and not targeting any air carrier in particular my message is this: as long as consumers, employees, and governing agencies allow this to happen, it will continue.

First, consumers need to understand the true cost of operating and maintaining a single aircraft, then multiply that across an entire fleet to get an inkling of what it costs for their seat. If they decide that it's too expensive to fly on a safely operated aircraft with an experienced crew, then take the car. Understandably, people want to pay less and get more; it is what we are taught through basic economics. However, there are instances (not simply limited to air travel) where safety and efficiency must come with a price.

Secondly, I am certain that nearly all of us are aware of the rigors that pilots go through just to acquire their licenses. After spending thousands upon thousands of hard-earned dollars on flight training, why in God's name would any pilot want to value themselves at $15,000 living in a crash pad with some ten other pilots? I do realize that this does not apply to all pilots as many will live with family or friends, but does $20 per flight hour really justify a crew's expertise? This, again is supposing that the expertise exists in the first place and we are not considering a 500 hour pilot. At what point will pilots put a genuine price on their heads, hold their head high and be proud of what they do? That pride yields the insatiable need to be a better, more experienced pilot (enter Sully). I must admit, I have no remorse for pilots who fail to educate themselves on the management systems in place and choose to fly for the regionals who employ such practices and live under the atrocious conditions that they do. This goes for friends AND strangers.

It has been said, and will be said again until something is finally done about it. Deregulation killed the airlines. While I cannot claim to know all of the facts, I can see why prices have dropped and so too has the quality of the services rendered. Airlines could undercut each-other with deregulation which started a price war. Once the price-war begins, there is no stopping it until it burns itself out. Unfortunately, this is attractive to management teams (cut costs, improve the bottom line) and the uneducated consumer since both parties benefit. This obviously comes at the expense of the flight, maintenance, and ground crews.

There is a very clear pattern for where all of this goes, and it seems that given an educated consumer and a dignified crew, it may be reversible. It certainly would not be cheap for the airlines employing these practices, and I would be willing to bet that some may irreversibly go into debt. However, we must consider our primary needs, and our primary need is safety. When will consumers educate themselves? When will pilots put a value on their knowledge and expertise?

When will we say enough is enough?



























PS- the president of the Regional Airline Association is a douche.