Originally Posted by
JungleBus
Thanks for the kudos.
I personally enjoy reading Les' column, although many of his takes on the industry are different than mine, as you might expect between a baby-boomer 777 check airman and a gen-Y regional guy. It's an interesting window into a world rather different than mine. I don't recall his specific article about CJC3407, so I won't debate that. But going a bit off-topic, I did a whole series of posts on the Colgan crash, not just the one you referenced, that you might find interesting. I think they're some of the best writing on the blog. They were all done in May 2009, in the middle of the NTSB hearings.
Here's a link to May's postings, start at the bottom. The CJC3407 posts are:
Canary in the Coal Mine
Thirty Seconds of Silence
Thirty Seconds of Confusion
Thirty Minutes of Distraction
Thirty Years of Outsourcing Safety
Doing some backtracking, he must have been hired at AA at the age of 26 or 27. In one article he mentions being a 727 Captain at age 32, just 5 years in at his company. I don't know what his aviation life was ages 21-26, but it couldn't be too bad to end up at AA at 27 and upgrade in 5 years and never been furloughed. Another thing that showed he's clueless is one article on how his FOs have second jobs and "how did this career become a like a second job." Gee, Mr Abend, you do realize your FOs have been at AA for nearly 15-20 years? And are still making FO wages. Of course they will have a real estate license, side business, etc. to make more wages. Not everyone lucked out with a 5 year upgrade at AA...
Here's his Colgan article. Name calls out the CA and FO name, and talks about his own Braniff experience and how a voice in his head said he wasn't ready (which is BS, he would have taken the job if hired)......
Jumpseat: The High Cost of Low Experience | Flying Magazine
"Encouraged by the fact that some of my college classmates with similar flight experience had been hired, I was confident of my chances. Unfortunately, I didn't interview with confidence. Instead, I interviewed like a 1,100-hour, 21-year-old kid. I wasn't hired. It was the best lesson of my career. And it may have been the best decision for the airline industry. Why?
Despite a four-year degree from a university with a highly regarded professional pilot training program, despite the fact that I possessed the appropriate certificates and ratings and despite the fact that I met Braniff's minimum requirements, a tiny voice inside my head said I really wasn't ready."
Would he have told Braniff HR that he wasn't ready if offered a class date?
Jungle, thanks for the links! I'll def check them out.