View Single Post
Old 02-16-2020, 09:20 AM
  #25  
ISRdog
New Hire
 
Joined APC: Feb 2020
Posts: 1
Default

I don’t usually post to these forums but I felt obligated to respond to the tabloid style post from “left10degrees”.

Safety:
I know about half of the captains here at iAero/Swift and I can truly say they are a professional and safety conscious group of pilots. I am a captain and have been here 2+ years, and have not and will not jeopardize the safety of my passengers or crew members by circumventing the FARs or safety norms. We will not take an aircraft that is illegal or unsafe, period. Yes there were some shady deals cut back in the day to cover flights, but most of us said NO, and someone did the right thing and let the Feds know. There was an ensuing investigation and that got shut down. If there are any shady deals going on at present I certainly am not aware of them. We do take safety very seriously. We do file SMS reports to make this a safer and better airline. I have filed numerous ASAPs and other safety reports and have never once been berated or have I faced negative recriminations because of that. While this airline is a stepping stone and not a destination (it is a 121 Supplemental remember) we have a diverse set of flying and we have fun. Yes we don’t have the quality of life, benefits, or pay that the majors do, or even the scheduled carriers such as JB, Spirit, Frontier or Allegiant, but it is a step up from the regionals for sure.

Chief Pilot and DO:
While I may not always agree with management decisions, I have never been cussed out by them, or yelled at, or experienced attempted bullying by them to make me do anything unsafe or illegal. The occasions where I had an issue or a disagreement on the correct interpretation of an MEL etc., we talked it out like professionals and mutually reached a conclusion. Specifically, I can think of an instance where I had a disagreement with maintenance control over an MEL. I read the fine print and concluded that an MEL on the airplane I was scheduled to fly was not correct for the airplane, and the airplane could not fly. I informed OCC that I couldn’t take the airplane which certainly made a few waves because it was a high profile contract. About that time my phone rang and it was the DO saying, “I read the fine print too, you are right. Do not take that airplane. If anyone says anything to you, I’ve got your back.” Now this has not been an isolated incident for me. There have been multiple times where the CP or the DO have personally let me know that they had my back when I made the right, but unpopular decision out on the line.

Crew Resources:
Most of the rank and file people in crew resources do a great job. Yes, there are some new people that are on the learning curve and yes, there is one bad actor there but I expect that situation will be rectified soon enough. Crew resources gets a bad rap and a lot of it is quite unfair. The truth is we are short staffed, approximately 163 pilots to cover 33 airplanes. Do the math. It takes a Herculean effort to make that one work. Every day that I talk to the folks in CR they are pulling their hair out, no reserves in Miami (or wherever) and they have to cover flights somehow, convincing pilots to come in in their days off, moving other crews in from God knows where to cover sick calls etc. The company uses a third party to book hotels, and any mistakes that the third party makes invariably get blamed on CR. The folks in CR are stuck enforcing the policies that have been previously mentioned on this forum (such as waiting until late in the day of your travel day to travel you). They didn’t come up with these policies but they have to enforce them. They are constantly getting yelled at by management to crew flights, and then getting yelled at by frustrated flight crews as last minute scrambles result in hotel issues, ticket issues etc. They are short staffed too. A long wait on hold when trying to contact them is not a reflection on the people who work in CR, rather that they are putting out multiple fires and don’t have enough people there. I have been in CR and watched them be on a land line and a cell phone at the same time, as they are answering emails or buying airline tickets for crew members. Personally my head would explode if I had to do that job. I think quite highly of most of the people in CR, as they are good solid people who are tasked with doing way too much with way too little.

Maintenance:
Yes there have been some maintenance issues, specifically the integration of Aerotech in Miami has been a challenge. Many of these things are being addressed, for example, the reopening the maintenance base in Greensboro because of maintenance shortcomings in Miami.
As someone else mentioned, I think the highest number of MELs that I’ve ever seen on a Swift airplane that I’ve flown is 4 (excluding NEFs of course). That’s pretty significant for an older fleet of aircraft. Additionally, I have worked with numerous of the flight mechanics, and they are a good group of guys. I have seen them time after time, in subzero weather up in Canada or inclement weather anywhere, servicing the airplane, conducting required checks and clearing discrepancies. Sometimes they basically live on the airplane and might experience 3 crew changes before they get to go to the hotel, and they get the job done, and then sit in the uncomfortable jump seat flight after flight, keeping an eye on systems while we fly, and giving input if we request it. Yes there were some bad actors, but there were persuaded to leave or were fired. I get along great with our flight mechanics and for the most part they do an outstanding job under quite challenging conditions.

The bottom line - we are professionals here. Yes there is room for improvement but that is what we are striving for as professionals, always better, always safer. I don’t know what happened to left10degrees to leave him or her as jaded and bitter as the post seems, but my experience at Swift/iAero, while not always smooth sailing, has generally been a positive one and I don’t regret my time here.
As always, safe flying, and keep the blue side up.
ISRdog is offline