Originally Posted by
Mason32
And why exactly is that? are there not laws on the books that say you call fatigued when fatigued?
are there not rules at each and every one of your regional/commuter airlines that says you write a plane up when there is an observed defect?
You ALL continue to report for work on time after "scheduled" reduced rest, getting flights out on time, with aircraft that have known "small" defects that "can wait for write up until the end of the day"... Then you fly all day with several multi-hour sits between flights, and the flights still go on time due to mission mentality....
then you expect to be treated, and paid, as a "professional" after acting like that ?
Brian Bedford at Republic has PROVEN there is money in regional airlines otherwise he would not be buying two large plane operators in one month... the notion that the margins are too slim to conduct yourself as a professional, and ground aircraft that have known defects, and to not report yourself fatigued, and to get flights out on time at all costs just re-affirms that while there are many many pilots, and some of them very very very good pilots... there are NOT a lot of professionals.
- I've seen some of the schedules at at least 2 major carriers and "short" overnights are there too.
-I'm sure there are just as many pilots at majors (percentage wise) who elect to "carry" minor maintenance items improperly. Actually this is impossible to quantify.
- The major airline schedules I've seen also contain long "sits" between flights.
- Plenty of major airline pilots also face the issue of balancing a fatigue call (and lost pay) and continuing on.
By this token (and your assertions), then there are PLENTY of "unprofessional" pilots at major carriers too.
The problem with your position is you attempt to make this industry a black & white world where all (or 90%) of the problems are only at regionals. I don't buy that for a New York minute. Since the financial woes of many of the majors post 9/11 and the concessionary or BK contracts of the last 8 years, these problems exist industry wide. Yes, some of the smaller regionals like Colgan have far more then the average amount of problems (which should be corrected), but not ALL regionals are that way. On the other end of the spectrum, a LARGE percentage of Eagle pilots schedules are pretty good and have 15-18 days off and their 3-day trips aren't THAT bad. Pay rates (especially F/O) for many regionals are another argument, but your continued criticism of the regional industry is based more on emotion then fact.