Originally Posted by JohnBurke

I didn't stay. I quit.

I did it on my terms, not theirs.

While I was there, however, I had one safeguard against being forced to fly unsafe equipment, undertake unsafe flights, or fly fatigued, as I was often directed to do.

As a captain, I had the power to say "no." I also had the power to listen to any FO who desired to say "no."

My Philosophy was then, and is now that the most conservative opinion in the cockpit wins. Everyone is tied to the same fate on every flight; we all pay the same price together for poor judgement.

My power to say "no" was used without hesitation, without any regard for the whining and cries of the company, and it was used often. It was used up until the day I said "no more" and quit to go do something safer. I went back to aerial firefighting.