poopplop

You're contradicting yourself. Why did you bring up race, then say there was actually no money for retraining? Sounds like you have some sort of hangup.. I would say that everyone, white male or otherwise, was toast if they needed retraining back when the pilot market was saturated. Nowadays pilots are coming to the majors with more relevant (jet) experience thanks to the regional airlines who must do everything they can to retain pilots, including those who you think aren't as cool or qualified as you because they needed an extra sim.
Again, I'm not sure why you felt the need to include race. You understand minorities that get hired meet the same hiring qualifications as everyone else, correct? To think it was only 55 years ago that qualified minority pilots had to go through the Supreme Court in order to be treated fairly. And now you think airline hiring/training departments discriminated against a demographic that makes up over 90% of the airline pilot work force?

NovemberBravo

Yes I’ve had a few FAs tell me their BF for Amazon

NeverHome

Hmmmm 2 thoughts:

First, if it’s coming from an FA then any info is automatically suspect.

Second, assuming this FA is correct then we can only assume the BF had been trying to get a landing clearance in the laid county airport. Can anyone really blame him? Hell I’ve seen guys make up far worse to score!

742Dash

The worst pilot I have flown with on the line was a white male. Ex-military, protected by his buddies in the training center. (He is long gone, but failed out of training at the legacy that he went to.)

IMO if you are going to be a marginal pilot it is best to be white, male and well liked socially. But you need all three.

TripleIsolation

Couldn’t agree more. I’m not disagreeing that maybe HR is more lenient on other types, but when it comes to the actual training department and line itself- white men and their buddies have the most protection. Which keeps it from ever even getting far enough to become an HR issue.

JonGoodsell764

After absorbing the transcripts, it’s clear this was a (preventable)tragedy every way you slice it. Three people dead who should be with their families this holiday season. It’s unspeakable. It’s easy to pile onto the dead guy, and make no mistake about it, he killed himself and two other people, but moving forward there are some points that can be drawn.

1. If this guy had slipped through the cracks at any pax carrying outfit and tanked one into the swamp, this would’ve been another Colgan. Which among other factors back then, sent the industry into turmoil.

2. Everyone is hiring right now. Everyone. And there aren’t enough bodies to fill seats. It is incumbent upon the professional aviators out on the line to not rely solely on someone else to call a spade a spade. ‘This guy is dangerous, but the system will get him’ should not be an acceptable answer to someone who lacks the basic skill and competence to be at the controls. I’m not advocating to ruin someone’s career. But I think it’s safe to say we as a whole need to be less passive about policing each other. How many other pilots flew with this guy and probably said, ‘never again.’ Just adding links to the chain in my opinion.

NovemberBravo

I think most of us are guilty of this. Good points

Atrasaty

During my capacity as a check airman I always used a very simple analogy that enabled me to make the always conflicting and difficult decision to unsat a candidate: Would I be willing to put my wife and kids on a jet with this candidate acting as the pilot? If the answer was no then how in good conscience could I expect other innocent families to put their lives in his/her hands. Very simple acid test. In my career I have only come across a couple of check airmen that took pleasure in failing candidates, but if you are not willing to do it then don't accept the assignment. By all means set folks up for sucess but they must be able to perform, period.
I would like to add that the earlier comments identifying a couple of pilots and their performance by some offensive nick-names is staggeringly stupid and unhelpful on every level. I feel ashamed that we can do that to each other and expect to be viewed as professional.

Csy Mon

Only Hangup I have is that some airlines keep certain pilots onboard despite poor performance.
Of course there are bad pilots of every color, sex, nationality and all that but a white male can never sue for discrimination, easier to let go.
I worked in the training department, seen it first hand.

poopplop

I suppose that would be a consequence of history, assuming what you say is true. Though, with only your word, I find it hard to believe the head of an airline training department is scared to unsat deficient pilots because they could possibly claim discrimination. In fact this particular pilot was failed and let go by multiple carriers, including a failure at Atlas. The very incident we’re talking about proves your theory incorrect. I think the reason Atlas hired and retained a pilot with such a poor training history has more to do with their need to fill seats, rather than fear of a discrimination lawsuit.