Pilots Email Us Worries Over Safety
EmailAirline industry insiders are raising serious safety concerns about regional carriers like Colgan. We reported last night on hearings into that February plane crash near Buffalo that killed 50 people, which revealed that pilots for commuter airlines often work very long hours for very little pay. That prompted some strong reaction from the pilots themselves who reached out to ABC News’ Lisa Stark directly via email. We got this response from a pilot who works for a regional airline: My biggest complaint about the regional airline industry is the way the pilots are paid and treated. Pilot training is intense and grows many kids up quick. however Regional airlines say that since they are a stepping stone for pilots to go onto bigger carriers they can pay and treat them poorly. More than fatigue it is low pilot moral that would be a bigger safety concern. Poor pay = stress= unpaid bills = stress = depression= inattention to cockpit duties. It is the same as all industries. One gets what they pay for. Higher pay = more productivity & better safety. I had a supervisor tell me one time that "pay is not related to professionalism" when I complained about the pay (off record). I have no clue where he learned that. I fly on regional airlines all the time. I think it is the pilots that actually make all airlines safer. Computers/airplanes break all the time. Studies have shown on average a pilot will face 6-10 threats per flight. And yet aviation has a better safety record than driving. However everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes very expensive ones. My family flew with me on one of the Colgan planes just last week(off record) I don’t think that safety is being sacrificed. However the maintenance dept leaves a lot to be desired. So does the FAA. Did you know that we have many FAA checks. however they only check cosmetic things. Seat torn here…….sticker missing there. THE FAA WILL NEVER START A AIRPLANE ENGINE AND ACTUALLY RUN IT UP TO CHECK FOR PROBLEMS BECAUSE OF LIABILITY ISSUES. Now that’s a huge loophole. As for the Maintenance dept they get a lot of new faces, high turnover, inexperienced guys. We write broken things up and a lot of times it is "ops check good".. Sometimes the same item is written up several times over. However if the item is a safety issue the pilots will usually refuse to fly the airplane forcing maintenance to fix the problem. Sterile Cockpit is the Rule that is broken everyday in 99.99% of airplanes cockpit on every flight. However I must mention that one cannot sit quite throughout. Conversation is ok to keep attention and prevents fatigue by keeping the pilot actually focused on the more important duty of flying. A quite cockpit leads to sleepy pilots specially in regional turboprop airlines where most legs are flown below 10000 flight the entire time. I am not defending idle chatter as a excuse not to do ones duty. All the pilots I have flown with will do their jobs well and stop all non essential conversation when required. I must mention that pilots learn a lot from each other’s experiences and mistakes. Most of this experience is exchanged in the cockpit when flying. Another email came to us anonymously: If you folks only knew what happens at these bottom feeder regional’s, it would shock you. I’m a professional pilot – and I won’t let my family ride on one. You pay for what you get, and regional airlines don’t pay a livable wage. Maintenance is shoddy at best. Remember, they are cutting corners on all aspects related to their operations – including maintenance. Major airlines put out a RFQ (request for quote) for all of their regional flying. They go with the cheapest. In order to be the cheapest – you pay pilots virtually nothing (hence you get the least experienced pilots), and you cut corners on maintenance everywhere you can, and you carry the least amount of pilots as possible. Those that are there work horrendous schedules, and you’re lucky if they are half awake. Pilots are threatened if they call in sick or are fatigued by the regional airlines. All the airline cares about is a butt in the seat and that the flight happens. Sick pilot, fatigued pilot – that’s not very important to them. They say safety is #1, but realistically it’s not. The almighty dollar is #1, and safety is a distant second – maybe. I think you have recently seen the results of the current culture in regional airlines – 50 people recently paid for it with their lives. It should have never happened. This one came from a pilot who worked for regional airline: "Regional airlines hold their pilots to same standards as the major airline. Yet, regional airlines don’t have the same work rules and compensation the major airlines offer, not even close."
"There will be another Colgan 3407 if regulations and work rules are not changed. There are signs of it every day. Pilots flying tired, stressed, overworked and underpaid."
"The flying public balks at expensive fares, but they want a Captain Sully in every cockpit, they can’t have both."
"The regional flying goes to the lowest bidder, not the one with the best compensated pilots and best safety records." Another pilot pilote wrote: "I am not defending idle chatter as a excuse not to do ones duty," he said. "All the pilots I have flown with will do their jobs well and stop all non essential conversation when required. I must mention that pilots learn a lot from each other’s experiences and mistakes. Most of this experience is exchanged in the cockpit when flying."
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professional aviation is unique for a number of reasons. For one your record follows you around for a very long time. Companies suggest that if you cause any trouble for them you will end up with a mark on your record and that could preclude you from consideration at another better paying airline. When you start at any new airline you start over from the bottom year one pay and schedule. This makes is very difficult to quit a substandard company and it makes it very hard to rock the boat at an airline that has unsafe practices.
You can ask any Regional pilot and you will get the same story.
Posted by: joe colgan pilot | May 15, 2009, 6:42 pm 6:42 pm
Having just seen your report from the pilots, I concur whole heartedly. I was an airline employee for 14 yrs, at Newark International Airport. I saw Fedex, UPS, and all the others cutting corners. You heard from the pilots, what about the ground crew and maintenance? Many of the experienced personnel are forced out of their jobs as soon as they near 10 yrs or/and reach the age of 50. Many are forced into part time positions. I was one of the casualties too. You are seeing the cancer after it has broken the skin. Its cancer cells are in the bone marrow. Many of us believe the problems started in the Reagan administration with the removal of experienced Air Traffic controllers. If you really want the facts, start your investigation at the rank and file level
Posted by: Iwas Amongthem | May 15, 2009, 6:58 pm 6:58 pm
I have to disagree with the pilots, I am a Aircraft Mechanic (A&P), I have worked in regional aviation for five years and have been a Licensed A&P since 1991. I have grounded many aircraft that my crew and I found to be unairworthy. We where and never have been disaplined for these actions, some supurvisers and managers my be upset (yelling, curseing, throwing things), but we would stand fast and show them the defective item and provide a repair solution. If a member of my crew or I where ever disaplined for these actions the FAA would love to hear them and see the proof. I do not understand why anyone, mechanic, pilot, flight attendant or otherwise would put the fling public, the aircraft and our fellow crew members, co-workers, friends and our personal family at risk. If a member of my crew or another crew is haveing a problem with a system that they are not familiar with, we as co-workers and professionals with assist them with the proper checks and repairs provideing the required on he job training and pratical experience. I believe if you are a professional that you will stand up for what you know is right, someone must make this stand.
Posted by: Charlie Martin | May 15, 2009, 7:04 pm 7:04 pm
A lot of people are missing a very important part of the equation in this crash – TRAINING. It seems the FAA did not require actual simulator training for aircraft stalls, only classroom presentation. We need to look at the entire training programs at the regional airlines. If you compare their training programs with the major carriers you will see marked differences, all driven by the lowest cost, although all compliant with the minimum FAA requirements. We WILL see a lot more of these types of accidents if these minimums are not addressed and made more stringent.
Posted by: Richard Jones | May 15, 2009, 7:30 pm 7:30 pm
I am an airline pilot with a major airline and previously worked as a regional pilot for seven years prior to being hired by a legacy airline last year. Prior to flying for the regional airline I was in the military.
I feel the corporate culture is very different at the regional level versus the major level from the pilot perspective.
At the regional airline level most pilots but not all want to get to the next level in order to have a better quality of life at the majors. Most pilots are just paying there dues until they can get to the major airline. The ones who don’t move up to the majors are somewhat satisfied with the quality of life as a regional captain and for some reason or another there is not a desire to go to the majors. Some cannot afford to take a severe pay cut to start over at the majors back at year one pay even though it may be the same union.
At the major airline level the pilot feels threatened by job security and loss of pay. Loss of retirement used to be an issue but it is already lost for most. The job security is threatened by several factors but a major factor is management cutting the fleet size at the major and adding more regional planes. This equals more regional jobs and less major airline jobs and planes. This issue is referred to as Scope by union and management.
The management takes study from Frank Lorenzo from the past and continuously bids lowest cost regional against lowest cost regional and slowly increases regional flying domestically as a whole and shrinks major airline aircraft and jobs.
At one time a regional flight was in a small turbo-prop aircraft and a flight less than an hour to connect smaller cities to larger airports that are served by the majors. Today you can fly on a large regional jet that can seat in excess of 75 passengers and can fly routes all over with flights nearing four hours. I have flown as a Captain on a regional jet as far South as Guatemala and as far North as Saint Johns, New Foundland, Canada(Same Trip too).
The main problem is the airline pilot union ALPA has given away too much Scope and the management needs to as always cut costs because this is their responsibility to the share holders in order to maximize profits.
The fix in order to increase morale, lower stress, increase pay, and insure job security for all pilots is to have the government interject and require a single seniority list with ALPA. This will allow management the freedom to fly any size airplane on any route but all airline pilot pay will be set by ALPA determined only by years of service as an ALPA pilot. The safety will be streamlined with training being conducted by ALPA and not the airline. This will lower costs to the airlines as well. This way a pilot will have less Stress and we can streamline the pay based on seniority and base choice. Joe Public will then know that the pilots up front are professional ALPA pilots and they are all paid fairly and are trained to the highest level possible. ALPA pilots need to unite and the Government needs to mandate that all 121 crews in the US are APLA crews.
This will end the era of management competing union pilots against each other at different airlines and there will be no more professional pilots making $16,000 per year to start at any level.
If Obama and Congress can try to fix the auto industry and the health system then they need to take care of the airline industry.
Posted by: Wilbur Right | May 15, 2009, 8:11 pm 8:11 pm
The problem is that airlines are hiring beginners to fly jet airliners because the pay is so low that they cant attract qualified applicants. The FAA is responsible for this because they allow airlines to hire people whom dont even have a Airline Transport Pilots certificate ATP. Could you imagine if airlines had to hire people who were qualified as Airline Transport Pilots!! The FAA needs to step up to the plate and put a minimum hiring requirement at the airlines at holding an ATP prior to working for a 121 Airline. Without something like this in place the regionals will continue to hire pilots with minimal experience. You wouldnt take a freshly minted 16 year old driver and put him behind the wheel of a school bus full of your kids would you? Thats exactly what the airlines are doing right now except that bus is at 37000ft and moving at 500mph. Some of these regionals are literally hiring teenagers to fly their jets in some cases. Most regional pilots start out having to live at home with their parents to make ends meet. Its really embarrassing how much these airline CEO’s have degraded this profession and are sacrificing safety and cutting corners where ever they can to save a dime.
The real problem in all of this is how the major airlines are outsourcing their passengers safety to the regional airlines. They could be keeping that flying in house where they have higher experienced pilots, maintenance and training programs but to save a nickle they outsource it. When a passenger buys a ticket they do so expecting to be flown by that airline not an outsourced airline. When the major airlines outsource their flying to the regionals they cant ensure that the training, maintenance and pilots are the best in the business.
Posted by: Ted Stryker | May 15, 2009, 8:12 pm 8:12 pm
The problem also rests with you the media. After the hoo rah dies down on this incident you will drop coverage and not persue the issue. Thisi s what has happened in earlier fatigue and crew related crashes. Airline Management shares blame, the FAA shares blame, Congress shares blame, and you share blame. You riled the people on AIG bonuses but do you raise awareness of airline management bonuses after a bankruptcy that cut pilot pay and retirement — no. Look no further than the mirror to see who allows this threat to continue.
Posted by: Chuck Lindbergh | May 15, 2009, 8:45 pm 8:45 pm
IT’S NOT JUST THE REGIONALS!!!!!!!!!!!
Next time, look at the pilots…see how beaten down, tired, exhausted they are as a whole.
9PM arrivals, 6AM departures, 16 hour duty day, 4 hours of pay, for 4 days straight, away from home, missing first day of school, babies birth, birthdays…Ask a pilots wife the struggles and burdens the company has placed on their husbands and family.
It’s not as rosey as everyone would like to think. Pilots sacrifice more on a daily basis for the Exec. bonuses, compensation, stock options, severence packages, and pay.
Pilots job: To safely transport passengers from point to point for min. pay.
Exec. job: To provide stockholders a rosey outlook, post Quarter profits….ACTUAL: Execs. get bonues for being in the red quarter after quarter and it is allowed as long as the stockholder have a ‘warm and fuzzy feeling’, yet pilots get a $100 bonus for being on time for the month, thank you Mr. Exec.
Major Legancy Carrier 737 First Officer Specs…15+ years experience, $80K college debt, 7k+ hours flight time, moving expenses (across the country), spouse job loss for the relocation…..all for under $30k a year. Thank you for the dream of being an airline pilot!
Do a study…will show the Pilot pay has gone down over 20 years, not following inflation. One of the only jobs which the pay has increasingly gone down while inflation has continued at a steady increase.
Posted by: YouSay | May 16, 2009, 11:02 am 11:02 am
This problem not only extends to the pilots but also to the flight attendants!!! At Pinacle Airlines, a sister company of Colgan Airlines, the job of flight attendant is to ensure the comfort and SAFETY of the passengers and their reactions to crises. HOWEVER! reserve flight atendants are only guaranteed 75 paid hours of flight time but often work over 140 hours, most of which is UNPAID ready reserve!! some flight attendants have been on reserve for over 1.5 years, they have lost their homes due to the poor pay and extended hours and are now living our of their cars with their children just to maintain the health benefits! Second jobs are impossible because of the call out requirement from 6am to 10pm. Can we expect true safety and top performance from such an injustice?!?!?
Posted by: Pinacle flight attendant | June 2, 2009, 10:44 pm 10:44 pm