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WSJ - Changes coming to commuter schedules
The story flashed across the screen on CNBC not too long ago. Randy Babbitt told the WSJ that major changes were coming regional pilot schedules in an effort to reduce fatigue. I went to the site and saw the breaking news banner, but found no story as of yet.
Business News & Financial News - The Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com |
Originally Posted by Whacker77
(Post 656776)
The story flashed across the screen on CNBC not too long ago. Randy Babbitt told the WSJ that major changes were coming regional pilot schedules in an effort to reduce fatigue. I went to the site and saw the breaking news banner, but found no story as of yet.
Business News & Financial News - The Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com |
WASHINGTON—Federal Aviation Administration chief Randy Babbitt, in his most detailed comments yet about combating pilot fatigue, vowed to tailor future regulations to better reflect the safety challenges facing commuter pilots. In a speech to the country's largest commercial-pilot union, the agency's administrator said the current "one size fits all" regulations don't adequately take into account fatigue typically experienced by commuter pilots, some of whom fly five or more segments per day. "It's absolutely unsafe to think," Mr Babbitt said, that such cockpit crews can fly as many hours or stay on duty for as long as pilots who may fly one long-range and execute a single landing route during the same day. Mr. Babbitt's comments indicate that the FAA, as part of its proposed sweeping rewrite of crew-scheduling rules, wants to mandate that commuter pilots get more rest, while probably allowing longer workdays on some long-range flights. Mr. Babbitt blasted the current rules as dating from "the propeller era." And in a pointed reference to complaints by airline-industry groups that the FAA is moving too fast in this area, the FAA chief vowed to continue pushing for accelerated effort. If labor and carrier representatives fail to reach consensus on scheduling-rule changes, he said, "we will close the gap and we will have a rule." Sounds like a lot of tough talk. I'll believe it when I get calls from friends on their third 10+ hour overnight in a row... |
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Didn't Babbitt just tell the press within the last week that change is not needed.. that the current rules are fine?
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Originally Posted by StrikeTime
(Post 656866)
Didn't Babbitt just tell the press within the last week that change is not needed.. that the current rules are fine?
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So if the regional airlines order more Q400's, does that mean we get to keep our "propeller era" regulations? Didn't the accident at the root of all this involve a prop?
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The new rules will not only go into play for the regionals...although they will be the ones most effected by them.
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Originally Posted by StrikeTime
(Post 656866)
Didn't Babbitt just tell the press within the last week that change is not needed.. that the current rules are fine?
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Raising hours
You can't just raise hours and expect everything to be o.k. Our industry needs to realize that, unless we do something about this ourselves, we will wind up with increased governmental regulation that will only assist in furthering the demise of the airline industry. We need to self regulate or self repair.
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Do you see this changing the 135 world as well??? Most of you know how abused those poor SOB's are.
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It's time for labor to think big picture. We need to have union reps from all the airline's carriers sitting in on negotiations as a group. We need unity and the extra brain power. Most importantly we all need to be united. We should be working to raise the standards and coordinating this between the union groups. Stop the whipsawing. It's in no one's favor except management.
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There's a lot of cheap talk coming out of this guy and out of both sides of his mouth. Lots of "code words" in there. I think he's nothing but an ATA shill.
He's going make a few minor changes, then call them "tough changes" and make a big deal out of it to the press, which will buy it hook line and sinker (because they're stupid). The industry will complain publically, while they crack open the champagne bottles at having coop'd another FAA administrator. My favorite part is the "mentoring." He wants underpaid and overworked experienced airline pilots to make up for the shoddy cheap training that airline managements supply to gravely inexperienced pilots and the FAA approves. You watch, NO change requiring an ATP to fly an airliner. This guy's an idiot. |
Originally Posted by Wheels up
(Post 656952)
There's a lot of cheap talk coming out of this guy and out of both sides of his mouth. Lots of "code words" in there. I think he's nothing but an ATA shill.
He's going make a few minor changes, then call them "tough changes" and make a big deal out of it to the press, which will buy it hook line and sinker (because they're stupid). The industry will complain publically, while they crack open the champagne bottles at having coop'd another FAA administrator. My favorite part is the "mentoring." He wants underpaid and overworked experienced airline pilots to make up for the shoddy cheap training that airline managements supply to gravely inexperienced pilots and the FAA approves. You watch, NO change requiring an ATP to fly an airliner. This guy's an idiot. |
Safety is just a word the airlines use to put people at rest. We have no saftey programs and managment/scheduling/dispatch couldn't care less about safety as long as the flights leave on time.
On time performance is what they really care about. "Safety" its just a word. |
Originally Posted by seafeye
(Post 656993)
Safety is just a word the airlines use to put people at rest. We have no saftey programs and managment/scheduling/dispatch couldn't care less about safety as long as the flights leave on time.
On time performance is what they really care about. "Safety" its just a word. who do you work for?:confused: that is not my experience at all. We take a delay in the name of safety anyday if we have to. It is all up to the PIC but to be frank we rarely need to delay because of something having to do with safety. Most delays has to do with bags, ground crew, passenger handling, etc...nothing related to safety.......... hmmm..........so that is why the numbers are so high for some regionals:rolleyes: |
Originally Posted by seafeye
(Post 656993)
We have no saftey programs and managment/scheduling/dispatch couldn't care less about safety as long as the flights leave on time.
i fly at a regional airline and we have a great safety department and safety is absolutely #1. it's not just a word, it's the whole name of the game. |
But they really are stepping up the FAA line checks on these inexperienced crews. We had a FED have the audacity to talk down to one of our "inexperienced" crews that had 25,000 hours and 30 years of company time between the two of them.
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Originally Posted by dontsurf
(Post 657000)
um, yeah...who do you work for again? so i can remember to never fly on your airline?
i fly at a regional airline and we have a great safety department and safety is absolutely #1. it's not just a word, it's the whole name of the game. |
Originally Posted by shimmydamp
(Post 656979)
The man has been at the helm for less than 3 months and you've already deemed him an ATA shill. Do you realize he's the former president of ALPA?
The proof will be in Mr. Babbitt's actions. His words are already starting to telegraph the snow job that's coming. It's not about safety. It's about money. |
Originally Posted by Wheels up
(Post 657029)
Yes, I know he's a former president of ALPA. And look where ALPA is now. Presides over mostly a bunch of lapdog major airline MECs working for a fraction of what they should be making and a bunch of commuter guys making even less proportionally. Don't bring ALPA into it. I got little respect for them either.
The proof will be in Mr. Babbitt's actions. His words are already starting to telegraph the snow job that's coming. It's not about safety. It's about money. What exactly would you have done already in your first 66 days as FAA adminstrator? He's already tasked a Flight Time/Duty Time Aviation Rulemaking Committee with creating new science based regulations, and has sponsered a series of FAA Call to Action Briefings in which union reps, management execs, and those from the the FAA can discuss and share ideas on how to improve safety throughout the entire airline industry. |
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