Originally Posted by
Carl Spackler
It's always being threatened by some management geek. They can threaten all they want, but if they're not in the left seat - they have no say. If you have the facts to backup your decision, any court attempt to sanction you will fail. If a pilot doesn't have any facts on his side, then he/she doesn't have the temperament to be in the left seat yet.
I don't mean to sound like such a hard ass here, but the FAR's do not delineate "we" and "our" in the description of the authority granted to the Pilot In Command. It is a singular granting of authority to one person and one person only. Federal law is completely on your side when you act as a prudent commander who is only intersted in safety.
I know it feels unique to you right now, but it's not. Don't worry about the collective in this regard. Worry only about what YOU think is correct and safe - then act accordingly. That's all you need to know.
Carl
Carl:
As to your first point, just look what happened when Glen Tilton was delayed because of a late arriving crew and a mechanical issue for his flight to Chicago a couple of weeks ago. As CEO, he decided that the Captain was not going to delay him and the inference was that it was "politically" motivated because of Tilton's position. As a result the Captain was removed from flight status, initially without pay, and placed on administrative leave. In this case, the Captain
appears to have been correct and followed company SOP and the FAR's. The jury is still out (figuratively) and it will be interesting to see what happens.
I'm well aware of "Captain's Authority" as defined by the FAR's having been "up the chain of command" all the way to the FAA Administrators office as part of a group in my previous life. You're correct in that with the law on your side and flying by company SOP's and the FAR's there isn't a concern...or shouldn't be. In most cases, this isn't an issue but the recent pressure being exerted on crew members is troublesome.
After having been one of the thousands of victims of the errosion of our lifestyle, it seems that senior management will press on to reduce the role of flight crewmwmbers in every aspect of operations, including Captain's Authority.
With all due respect, I guess we agree to disagree on the
potential effect that the UAL va ALPA decision will have. As I said in the first posting,
I hope that I'm
wrong.
As for me personally, I have no fears Mate. I'm out of that mess.
