Trans States
05-30-2014, 10:04 PM
#4291
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Joined APC: Mar 2012
Position: B737
Posts: 347
Originally Posted by RgrMurdock
I remember the stories. Mesa would make up flights and then cancel them just so they could be legally overnighted and make them do stand ups with no hotel or something along those lines. It's too bad that the only contract improvements they got were only to keep them just at the bottom of the industry. The pilots deserve more.
A lot of pilots deserve more
05-30-2014, 10:13 PM
#4292
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2011
Position: Taco Rocket Operator
Posts: 2,485
Originally Posted by TBucket
I figured that was their answer to a "sleep room" as per the contract so they could do airport reserve in chicago.
05-30-2014, 10:17 PM
#4293
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2011
Position: Taco Rocket Operator
Posts: 2,485
Originally Posted by globalexpress
I can't find a link to the story on-line anymore, but there is a copy below. If I remember correctly, a Phoenix news reporter caught wind of the Mesa guys sleeping in the back of their airplanes on continuous duty and broke a story that was very embarrassing to Mesa. After it broke, Ornstein gave the crews each a hotel room to share.
Dec 28th, 2006
WFAA-TV
Pilots admit to flying tired. Some have fallen asleep during takeoff. Also Online
One of the nation's largest regional airlines is changing its policy regarding sleeping on planes. This action follows a News 8 investigation on pilot fatigue.
Mesa Airlines will no longer force pilots to "camp out" in the passenger section of planes when the aircraft are parked between flights overnight.
News 8 broke the story on "camp outs," last month.
Until our investigation, if you were flying Mesa Airlines, your pilot might have rolled out a sleeping bag and curled up in the cabin of an airplane the night before your flight.
Mesa flies into Dallas under the U.S. Airways Express brand and is one of the largest regional airlines in the country.
On overnight schedules between flights, Mesa pilots regularly took off their ties, took apart seats to make a bed, and stretched out to try to get some sleep.
It's part of what can often be a twelve hour long duty day for many regional pilots, and they say that leads to exhaustion and mistakes.
"Almost landing on the wrong runway," said one pilot who asked not to be identified, "[or] landing with a checklist that turned out to be incomplete."
As at most airlines, Mesa pilots fly what's called continuous duty overnights. That's where they might have to spend as much as four hours on the ground in the middle of the night.
It's all within FAA regulations.
But now, after News 8 revealed pilots were camping out on their aircraft, Mesa modified its procedures.
In a crew briefing obtained by News 8, Mesa is now telling its pilots, "All continuous duty overnights less than four hours will have one crew hotel room available. Please contact the (Mesa) hotel desk."
In other words, Mesa will now pay for a crew to split a hotel room instead of camping out on the plane.
When News 8 contacted Mesa about the change, airline spokesman Paul Skellon said, "We have no comment."
But pilots say a hotel room won't solve the real problem.
"We don't transport ourselves from the airplane to a hotel bed and are immediately asleep," said one pilot. "Pilots have to be transported to the hotel and a lot of times, transportation doesn't come to them in a timely manner."
Check out the pickup area at any airport and you'll see pilots waiting for a ride to the hotel. Every minute of waiting time eats into sleep a pilot needs to function.
A lot of pilots say their sleep deprivation is constant. It's not just when they're on continuous duty overnights, but it is throughout their work schedule. They say they regularly fly on as little as four hours of sleep.
It's a problem, pilots say, that exists not just at Mesa, but every regional airline in the country.
Dec 28th, 2006
WFAA-TV
Pilots admit to flying tired. Some have fallen asleep during takeoff. Also Online
One of the nation's largest regional airlines is changing its policy regarding sleeping on planes. This action follows a News 8 investigation on pilot fatigue.
Mesa Airlines will no longer force pilots to "camp out" in the passenger section of planes when the aircraft are parked between flights overnight.
News 8 broke the story on "camp outs," last month.
Until our investigation, if you were flying Mesa Airlines, your pilot might have rolled out a sleeping bag and curled up in the cabin of an airplane the night before your flight.
Mesa flies into Dallas under the U.S. Airways Express brand and is one of the largest regional airlines in the country.
On overnight schedules between flights, Mesa pilots regularly took off their ties, took apart seats to make a bed, and stretched out to try to get some sleep.
It's part of what can often be a twelve hour long duty day for many regional pilots, and they say that leads to exhaustion and mistakes.
"Almost landing on the wrong runway," said one pilot who asked not to be identified, "[or] landing with a checklist that turned out to be incomplete."
As at most airlines, Mesa pilots fly what's called continuous duty overnights. That's where they might have to spend as much as four hours on the ground in the middle of the night.
It's all within FAA regulations.
But now, after News 8 revealed pilots were camping out on their aircraft, Mesa modified its procedures.
In a crew briefing obtained by News 8, Mesa is now telling its pilots, "All continuous duty overnights less than four hours will have one crew hotel room available. Please contact the (Mesa) hotel desk."
In other words, Mesa will now pay for a crew to split a hotel room instead of camping out on the plane.
When News 8 contacted Mesa about the change, airline spokesman Paul Skellon said, "We have no comment."
But pilots say a hotel room won't solve the real problem.
"We don't transport ourselves from the airplane to a hotel bed and are immediately asleep," said one pilot. "Pilots have to be transported to the hotel and a lot of times, transportation doesn't come to them in a timely manner."
Check out the pickup area at any airport and you'll see pilots waiting for a ride to the hotel. Every minute of waiting time eats into sleep a pilot needs to function.
A lot of pilots say their sleep deprivation is constant. It's not just when they're on continuous duty overnights, but it is throughout their work schedule. They say they regularly fly on as little as four hours of sleep.
It's a problem, pilots say, that exists not just at Mesa, but every regional airline in the country.
Gotta love JO...a real class act...
05-31-2014, 04:07 AM
#4294
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2013
Posts: 10,066
Originally Posted by RgrMurdock
I remember the stories. Mesa would make up flights and then cancel them just so they could be legally overnighted and make them do stand ups with no hotel or something along those lines. It's too bad that the only contract improvements they got were only to keep them just at the bottom of the industry. The pilots deserve more.
05-31-2014, 06:00 AM
#4295
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2011
Posts: 134
Trans States
Back to TSA stuff yet??
05-31-2014, 08:47 AM
#4296
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2012
Position: left seat CRJ (again!)
Posts: 349
Sorry...not back to TSA stuff yet.
While at Comair, we heard about one crew, maybe more, arriving in YYZ or YUL on a CD trip. They were late and decided not to go to the hotel. They had 3-4 hours on the ground so decided to remain on the plane. This created problems because they didn't clear customs and immigration for Canada or the U.S.
The company got in trouble for that one as did the crew.
While at Comair, we heard about one crew, maybe more, arriving in YYZ or YUL on a CD trip. They were late and decided not to go to the hotel. They had 3-4 hours on the ground so decided to remain on the plane. This created problems because they didn't clear customs and immigration for Canada or the U.S.
The company got in trouble for that one as did the crew.
06-06-2014, 11:46 AM
#4297
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Joined APC: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,109
Nothing new? Anybody?
06-06-2014, 12:10 PM
#4298
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Joined APC: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,930
Joy is in dispatch now
06-06-2014, 01:06 PM
#4299
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,109
Originally Posted by Riverside
Joy is in dispatch now
I helped train some of the new dispatchers the other day with a nice 5 leg no-acars day...
06-06-2014, 01:41 PM
#4300
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Joined APC: May 2011
Posts: 996
If they keep hiring and attrition doesn't pick up soon they'll have to furlough unless they have some new flying planned. We're getting more and more overstaffed every month.
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