MacGuy2

Yesterday, all of the FedEx 777 pilots received an email from our Fleet Captain JG. In that email he discussed the routing we had been taking on our MEM-DBX flights, right up until 12 hours prior to the shoot down. He then goes on to say,

"I think it is important for everyone to understand that we will never take an unnecessary risk with our airplanes or crews just to save on flight time or fuel."

At first glance, I thought that was a nice thing for him (the Company) to say. That they wouldn't put us in harms way. But then when I thought about it some more, it dawned on me, that's exactly what they did. They knowingly put crews and airplanes in harms way. And they have been doing it even though the Ukraine area has been in armed conflict for months. The Russian Separatists, using Russian SAMs, have been shooting down aircraft for some time. Our intelligence people are saying the Separatists don't have a sophisticated radar system that would allow them to differentiate between a military aircraft and a civilian aircraft. So some Bubba just saw a radar blip and punched the launch button. So by the Grace of God, or shear dumb luck, it wasn't one of our aircraft that transits the area every day. It just really incenses me that our flight management and/or GOC are either so incompetent or so incredibly arrogant that they would route us through a war zone, not bother to tell us that they are doing so, then tell us in a letter that they would never do such a thing to save a buck on gas.

MG2

The Walrus

Not to mention that now that we are avoiding Ukraine and Iraq, we are flying through Iran to get to DXB.

Oh, and we are starting back into Ben Gurion tonight.

YYESIAV8

MacGuy, in general I agree with your sentiment. But WE (the pilots) could have also waved the BS flag on this practice while it was going on. WE were the ones in the jets flying the routes. I'm sure there were more than one conversation about this in a cockpit that was flying over the war zone. How come no one spoke up? At least I'm not aware of anyone speaking up. How about our union security committee? I'm confident the old security committee chairman would have been up to speed on this kind of stuff.

Don't get me wrong, it first and foremost must fall on the company to ensure they don't put our crews, aircraft and customers in harms way. But its also up to us to say something if they do.

I really think this hi-lites our level of apathy. We seem to consistently get riled up after the fact. Its time for some pro-active riling!

USMCFDX

No mention of the first message on PFC that said we have not flown there since February and now new message says we were there 12 hours prior to the shoot down. .???

Hound

It is not particularly clear. But as understand it, we have been not overflying the Crimean area since Feb., but have been in Eastern Ukraine airspace until the other day.

Am I on the right track here?

USMCFDX

Sounds plausible, but why did they pull the original post from PFC?

MacGuy2

I know what you're saying...but I know when I pick up a flight release with 120+ waypoints on it, I generally don't have a clue what countries I'm flying over until the FIR borders shows up on the EFB. By then, you're pretty much committed. So you overfly the region, nothing happens, so you press on and forget about it. But that's why we have dispatchers, who theoretically have the "big picture" and flight management and corporate security. If our flight releases said, in bold print, "You will be flying over a war zone," and you chose to press on, then you share some responsibility for your actions. But I would bet that if you asked 100 777 pilots who had flown MEM-DBX, did they know they were flying over Ukraine, prior to actually overflying Ukraine, a vast majority wouldn't have a clue.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, it would have been nice to be alerted on the front end that we were going to be flying over a war zone. It would have been even nicer if the powers that be had simply decided not to risk crews and airplanes and rerouted us as soon as there was information available that the bad guys were playing with SAMs instead of now telling us that they would never risk crews or airplanes to save fuel or time, which is exactly what they have been doing--risking crews and airplanes.

MG2

Tuck

My exact thoughts - I can't find that FCIF online anymore - anyone have it? Did they actually say we definitely weren't flying there since Feb but now say we actually did?

FedEx1

Actually. We are flying over Iraq to DXB. Not Iran.

What happened to the first MH17 blurb that said we weren't flying in that area since April? And now it turns out we were flying in it all along?

::

FedEx1

Unless that's changed in the last 24 hours...