etch5895

Make their pilots fly more hours to get experience?

I hate to say it, but we demand cheaper and cheaper tickets, and then get upset when the adage 'You get what you pay for' comes true.

GreatChecko

That's an awfully wide brush you are painting with there sir. I can assure you that no matter what the paint job or the size of the aircraft you are on you will find pilots that have failed a checkride or two in their careers? Why? We are human and make mistakes.

Also, these checkrides are sometimes used as thinning measures, much like Chem 101 in pre-med, when an airline is looking to get rid of pilots or make a point. This is much more complex than meets the eye.

I failed two checkrides during initial training (ie prior to the airlines), one of which was my flight instructor exam, which has an exceptionally high failure rate. I'd argue those two failures made me a better pilot. A string of failures at the airline level MAY point to a problem, but a few here or there, especially over a long period of time, is irrelevant.

What would you rather have, a "perfect" pilot that never made any mistakes during training and/or was coddled through training and never challenged, or a pilot who has had to work for his ratings at every step and may have had a couple of missteps early on?

At least where I fly, we are taking ANOTHER good look at safety and ensuring that everyone knows they are empowered and will be backed up by management when they make a decision that they felt was the safest course of action. Heads have rolled and adjustments are being made to make sure that we are operating as safely as we can. I can assure you that this is occurring throughout the industry.

We are also implementing the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP).This ball was rolling prior to Colgan but was sped up in the past few months. ASAP is a partnership between the airline and the FAA to collect reports from flight crews detailing safety or procedural issues that have encountered or reports of inadvertent mistakes they have made. These reports are culled they crews involved may see additional training and/or changes are made in training programs to prevent these issues. ASAP exists at all levels of the industry and has some great benefits for all involved.

Sadly, this is where it begins and ends.

Checko

magiciansampras

Who is demanding anything? If ticket prices were raised across the board then no one could demand anything.

opus17

I'm sure by any standard, the 90 minute drive is statistically more hazardous than the jungle jet.

GreatChecko

That unfortunately would require collusion and illegal on many levels.

Furthermore, since airline flying has gotten so price sensitive that people jump between carriers for a price difference of $2, it will only take one airline to start the race back to the bottom, especially in our current economy.

This is the reality we are in. Flying has gotten so safe and cheap that most people can't see a difference between carriers, even if they are there, so trying to differentiate and charge more doesn't work anymore. It's all about the lowest price possible.

Unfortunately, this will be solved by the blunt and imperfect impediment called regulation.

etch5895

Please tell me this is tongue in cheek?

CApreppie

Well it is all a race to the maximum profit/minimal loss that all airlines play nowadays with deregulation and increased competition. Mainlines farm out less busy routes to regionals who cost less. These regionals want to make money to so they pay their employees less and make them work hard. All because consumers flock to the cheapest fare.

That said, I think regional carriers are safe. The aviation crash record in the US has been especially good up to the CO crash. I don't think the level of experience is as good as mainline pilots though. So hopefully no emergency situations happen while I'm flying regionals.

Sounds like the CO airplane that crashed was piloted by a mediocre (at best) pilot who seemed to only have skill enough to fly during good weather only. It really is the airline and the FAA that should be monitoring and having stricter standards as to pilot competence.

797-3

The similarities in name fool most non-seasoned flyers. The honest way would be to do like they did in the early 80's. For example, flying Ransome connecting with Pan Am (what ever happened to Ransome and their (?) Dash 7 4 engined turboprops?). Or Rio connecting with Continental in Houston. Or Simmons connecting with American.

RustyC

One reason I dropped CO a few years ago was their increasing use of RJs on inappropriate routes. So many routes into CLE were made RJ, including ATL-CLE. Some ATL-IAH ones as well. You could even fly ATL-IAH-MKE, all RJ.

Every city mentioned so far is big enough for an MLB team, and some of the distances are more than trivial as well. Upgrades don't mean much without a first class, and it looked like the whole strategy was mainly about lower pilot and crew pay.

Other airlines like NW seem to have a more appropriate arrangement, in that RJs are used on mostly short-haul routes to small markets that would have a hard time supporting more. But potential exists for more CO-like behavior.

This also can help explain why LCCs have grabbed market share. On WN or FL you know you won't get an RJ, and FL can even say they have business class on every flight.