EYELS

One issue I haven't seen discussed is whether these two pilots have flown together before. Is there a possible (serious) personality conflict -- perhaps there is something on file with the airline that one of the pilots has requested not to be paired with the other. Maybe they were having a blow out argument. Just a thought.

KC10 FATboy

Johnso29;

I feel that these guys SHOULD NOT be fired (yes, I said it ... and those who read this can flame away). There are thousands of pilots flying who are able to hide behind their unions and NASA reports -- druggies, drunks, wife beaters, stalkers, completely incompetent aviators ... you name it.

But for the record and I'm sure it happens somewhere within the ranks, I've never seen a DAL-S guy use a laptop in flight. Ever. I think these guys may have been doing so since they fly an Airbus and don't have the yoke in front of them.

This isn't a DAL-S vs. DAL-N flame, so please, don't take it as such.

eaglefly

I believe revocation lasts 1 year and after that period they can reapply, but have to take all their checkrides again from scratch. Techinically, they will meet all the aeronautical experience requirements for the PVT, COMM and ATP, but must meet regain recency requirements and demonstrate performance standards. It'll cost some bucks.

Getting another job with this on your record won't be as easy..............perhaps a job at Best Buy selling laptops would be in order ?

makoshark72

I believe they have 10 days to appeal, according to the FAA's rules...

From Newsweek online article...

"Cheney and Cole have 10 days to appeal the revocations to the NTSB, which acts as an independent authority to investigate and adjudicate appeals of license suspensions by the FAA. The pilots can appeal an adverse verdict by an NTSB administrative law judge to members of the NTSB itself, and then appeal further to the courts. The NTSB has expedited procedures to process an appeal of an emergency license revocation within a matter of days."

BigGuns

The difference between this and the taxiway deal is this would never be accepted into to ASAP. Only events involving the following will be excluded by the Pilot ASAP Event Review Committee (ERC) and will not receive the protective provisions or the enforcement related incentives of the program:

• Criminal activity
• Substance abuse
• Controlled substances
• Alcohol
• Intentional falsification
• Intentional disregard for safety

alfaromeo

I wouldn't hesitate to let my family fly with them. The union will back these guys 100%. This is far from over. This was a bad mistake that they will regret forever, but I don't believe that these guys should be thrown out like yesterday's garbage. That's all I got to say about that.

AirWillie

The union should have their limits and I don't think they'll back them on this one. There are overall harmless things but this is not one of them and it's a serious issue. After this incident, these guys will probably be the most alert crew ever to step foot in a cockpit but that is not the point. They need to be made and example of for the other guys that don't get caught. I'm not saying they should have their licenses taken away but they probably should not step foot in an airline cockpit again.

Superpilot92

I agree, but the kicker is that if this had never made the news this MAY have been handled differently. These guys could have filed the asap and said they screwed the pooch by accidentally overflying their destination and upon realizing their mistake they turned back and landed safely. then they likely wouldnt have ever had to mention the laptops (maybe). Point is that this wasnt even given the opportunity to go through the normal process. Instead they were crucified before the real story even came out.

AGAIN-I think they had it coming to them after flying an hour and a half without talking to anyone and being so out of it they completely overflew msp but these guys are definitely being made examples of. My argument isnt really about the punishment these 2 are getting, its about HOW the FAA and the company are completely disregarding the established system we have established.

Whacker77

I feel bad for the guys. They made a mistake, but they have a whole career on which they should be judged, nit just one flight.

flycrj200

I do not agree with the fact that the FAA pulled their tickets right away, but ASAP does not apply to this situation.