Cracks in the Cover-Up


Note to Mods: This belongs in Pilot Health. Request 24 hours here for exposure.

 

Great article.

 

That was excellent, however, let me post for usmcflyer and ewrpilot: every job has their stresses.....just ask plumbers, carpenters, and the guy working the milkshake machine at mcdonalds(as this will be something that one of those two et al will post). I'm surprised that the flight schools haven't demanded to have this author brought up in a civil lawsuit for speaking the truth.

 

Thanks for bringing me into it.
Let me add that every job has its' stresses.
Just because you don't know any better doesn't make it not so HMP.
Thanks for playing!

USMCFLYR

Edit: Now that I actually read the article - I see that the author and I would be in agreement HMP. Did you actually read the article?
Maybe it is true that airline don't corner the market on workplace stress?

 

True, EVERY job has their various stressors that go along with it, so nobody can claim that airline employees have it cornered.

But remember during the recession and EVERY BODY likes to say that borderline cliche statement of "well, you're just lucky to have a job"

Which is VERY true, lucky to have a job. But unlike many that had their real first tough time during the recession, those of us in the career felt lucky to have a job since September 12th, 2001. Again, making that statement of "you're just lucky to have a job" seemed cliche. It's wasn't some recent fad of airline workers having a tough time in late 2007 into 2008. Again it'd been going on since after September 11th. Sullenberger made the point more than once at all the various forums/venues in which he spoke.

 

The "lucky to have a job" mentality doesn't give carte Blanche to people to do/say whatever they please, employers included. Lucky, sure, but that doesn't make people imperceptible to all of the b.s. going on. It still takes its toll.

 

Really liked the article. The author certainly makes no claim that airline workers are the only people who deal with workplace stress; She points out some of the unique stressors that airline crews deal with and (more importantly) the cultural and legal hurdles that they deal with in seeking any sort of psychological treatment. Given her background (former Clipper stewardess turned psychotherapist), I'd say she's plenty qualified to make some of these statements.

Frankly, with the disastrous erosion in quality of life so many airline workers in the US have undergone in the past decade or so coupled with the stresses of working in the modern airline environment, I'd expect these sorts of things to happen more often. I think the most important point the author made was:

The above has become almost common sense as attitudes regarding psychological treatment have evolved over the years, but it'd still be a pretty revolutionary idea for the aviation world.

 

I've heard stories of guys seeking help in other countries just to avoid the issues that might be raised here State-side. There's something wrong with the system when people have to go to those extremes to get the help they need.

 

I've yet to encounter a problem for which I've felt the need to seek psychiatric care, but I've known plenty of pilots who have. I haven't known any who had as visible a breakdown as the JetBlue Captain, but several who had them in private. And more than one who did not survive them.

As I said earlier:
Take a job that has unique stressors to begin with, add paycuts, layoffs, and all the other on-the-job hostilities airline crews deal with nowadays - and also have legal policies in place that actively discourage seeking help when it's needed? It really is a wonder this sort of thing doesn't happen more often.

 

That's a shame, truly.

Definitely agreed. Sprinkle a little bit of trouble-at-home-type stress on top of those named and you've got yourself a cocktail for an emotional breakdown just waiting to happen.