I sent the following to all my contacts:

(Copy of the article)


Recently in congressional hearings, the leaders of the FAA and NTSB admitted there are two levels of safety: one at the major airlines (American, Continental, Delta, Southwest, United, etc.) and a lower level at many of the the "regional" airlines (the airlines which operate the "Express" and "Connection" flights for the majors: American Eagle, Express Jet, Colgan Air, and dozens of others).

The FAA is talking about, and appears to be making some changes to narrow the gap. Additionally, there is a bill in congress that would improve safety at all airlines and help bring the regional up to the same level as the majors. That bill, H.R. 3371: Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009, would require ALL PILOTS to have a minimum of 1500 hours and an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate (currently Captains are only required to have the Certificate, First Officers need only 210-250 flight hours and a Commercial Pilot Certificate). Additionally, the bill would require improvements in pilot training, better access of pilot applicant's FAA and training records by airlines, establishment of a mentor program pairing senior pilots with new hires, and all airlines to establish certain safety and reporting programs.

The pilots support the bill.

In spite of potential higher expenses, the Regional Airline Association, the lobby for dozens of regional airlines, has supported the bill.

To date, the only lobby to come out against H.R.3371 has been the Air Transport Association who represents the major airlines including American, Continental, Delta, Southwest, and United. Nearly all the improvents the bill seeks are already implemented at the majors. So why would they oppose it? Cost. The major airlines subcontract much of their flying to regional (depending on the major, about half of all flights are operated by regionals). Typically, the regional that wins the contract is the lowest bidder. As a result, some of the regionals save money by reducing training to bare minimums, paying lower wages (driving away hire quality applicants), and not implementing as many or any of the saftey programs the majors already have. If ALL the regionals are forced to implement the improvements, subcontract prices will rise and the majors will lose money.

So what can each of us do? Contact your representatives and ask them to support H.R. 3371. In the mean time, when you buy an airline ticket, insist the company operating the flight is the same as the name on the ticket. On many of the airline websites, the fine print will tell what company is actually operating the flight. Note that Expedia.com does NOT show the operator, but Travelocity.com does. The only major that does ALL of its own flying is Southwest.


Finnaly, a word about flight crew pay. Consider the hourly rates for US Airways flight 1549. Each of the passengers paid:

Captain Sullenburger about $1 per hour
First Officer Skiles about 60 CENTS per hour
and the flight attendants (the men and women who guided passengers out of the aircraft after landing in the Hudson) earn about 35 cents per hour.


Thanks for your attention,


Maybe if we ALL let our friends know, there may be a change.