As Airlines Cut Corners, Pilot Fatigue Could Run The Industry Into The Ground

DailyFinance:

On Wednesday night, Northwest Airlines (DAL) Flight 188, an Airbus A-320, overshot its destination by 150 miles before the pilots re-established contact with air traffic controllers, turned the plane around, and landed in Minneapolis. While the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating the incident, questions have risen about the cause of the overflight and what it says about current airline safety regulations.

Read the whole story: DailyFinance

Comments

[jdevans]

Pilot fatigue running the industry into the ground. What about pilot fatigue running planes into the ground?

[filo]

Now you've left me with nothing to post.
:-}

[ETSpoon]

I flew Northwestern once. It was also the last time.

[UncleJimbo]

"Run the Industry into the Ground!...­...Very Droll! I'm in Pa. next time I visit my Brother and his lovely Family in AZ. I think I'll Drive out!

[edva]

But, if the airlines don't cut corners, then the stock will go down!!!! The Market is God!!! USA! USA!

[Sing Out and Slap Iron]

There's more to being an American than making a profit. If you don't like that, might I suggest a nice little thrid world country you can go to?

[jalaroc]

he was being facetious

[traumabob]

The first time I flew in a commercial airliner, about 40 years ago, it was wonderful. There was plenty of seat and leg room; the inside airflow was high volume, so the air was fresh despite the smokers; the food was not great but it was hot and plentiful; pillows and soft drinks were free, as were headphones for the movie. On a flight to Hawaii a few years later even the wine was free. All this for the cost of a regular airline ticket. It must have been sheer heaven in First Class. Even worse, almost all planes took off and landed on time.

Of course the airlines were highly regulated back then.

Explain to me again how deregulation and the Free Market always serves the consumer best.

[mabinog]

ah, easy one there bob, you see deregulation and free market weeds out the inefficient, the incompetent and the weak making those remaining in the market the best. Now of course this is all learned at the low cost of a few thousand dead and the risk of monopoly but ppfffffft, such small things those are.

[6andahalf]

Are frequent flyer miles awarded to the passengers of this flight automatically, or do they have to sign up for the new Detlta Amex card?

[hershala]

I gave up flying when I learned that most airlines were outsourcing their maintainance to third world countries. I ran a company for over 10 years after that without flying, yes it took a little effort to figure it out and sometimes it cost more money. When our Neighbor who was flying for Delta told me about the salary cuts, the split shifts, the lost pensions, the inadequate rest time I was amazed that it was allowed. Very shortly after that he left the US and began flying for Air France where they still enforce rest times, non drinking before flying, have pensions and medical coverage.

I figure anyone who flies for vacation on an American Airline with their families is either uninformed or a serious risk taker.

Cheap airfares are great unless you consider what has been given up for a few dollars.

[jalaroc]

I'm not sure if it was united or american airlines where the management went to the stewardresses and pilots and demanded pay and benefit concessions in order to "save the company". Right after the vote, it was found out that the company had put $36 million dollars into a protected pension plan for executives that was immune to bankruptcy proceedings even while they were demanding pay and benefit cuts. the employees were livid and with good reason.

Then there was the situation with continental where pilots took massive pay puts in order to help the company through a rough time. When times improved, not only did continental not keep its promise to reinstate previous pay levels, the company gave massive stock options and pay bonuses to its executives, especially the ceo.

american management philosophy, "every dollar I pay a worker is one less dollar in bonuses that I will receive."

[yliza]

I gave up flying when getting on a plane began to mean giving up your civil liberties and right to privacy. Now I take the train.

[pterack5]

what the airlines really need is for the gov to back off and let it govern itself. . .how can they survive without unfettered capitalism. . .maybe bring in some people in who will do these jobs Americans are to lazy to do for crappy wages. . .the airlines now contract out most of the maintenance. . .to the lowest bidder. . .

[Openyermind]

WHAT? You think with the cost cutting they do they'll do anything to IMPROVE conditions when it costs them money? Wake up.

[LorettaSingbiel]

I think pterack5 was being facetious or sarcastic.

[Tom95134]

As part of my job I was one of those that use to "live" on airplanes. Often commuting coast-to-coast on a red-eye for a 4 hour meeting and then returning to home an the late afternoon flight. With the way that airlines are "pushng" pilots now combines with salary cuts I'm just glad that I'm not flying anymore.

[jimrs]

As Chesley Sullenberger, the famed "hero pilot" of Flight 1549, recently testified to Congress, the past few years have brought him a 40 percent drop in salary and a terminated pension.

A 40% drop in "the past few years". You know who was in charge during the past few years.

Reagan fired more than 11,000 air-traffic controllers in 1981 for staging an illegal strike. The move was a major blow to the power of labor unions.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-06-10-taylor-vignette_x.htm

[gialla]

I only knew about Sullenberger's testimony before Congress because I saw it in the Michael Moore Captalism movie. I understand why there was extensive media coverage for Sullenberger's spectacular landing in the Hudson. I don't understand why there was so little (if any) major media coverage of his testimony. His testimony, this recent incident with Northwest Airline, and the crash of the regional airplane in the Buffalo area within the last year highlight the potential for more and more serious and disastrous events in the friendly skies. I fly a lot for business. I have heard many unhappy discussions between flight attendants about their treatment by their employers.

The Northewest pilots will be the major topic of any news coverage of this story. I think the entire airline industry needs to be the main topic.

[mcmutter]

Nowadays they consider pilots to be an hourly expense item.

[Openyermind]

Exactly right.

[yliza]

Back when I was growing up, being an airline pilot was one of those good-paying jobs. Others that existed at the time were: nursing, teaching, construction, manufactur­ing...I could go on. These jobs didn't pay huge salaries but they did pay enough to support a middle class family. In fact, many of my older relatives lifted themselves from poverty to the middle class by becoming nurses. When I was in college in Connecticut, many of my fellow students were children of workers at Electric Boat (a submarine manufacturer in Groton, CT), or Pratt & Whitney (aircraft manufacturer in East Hartford). Also, back then, most families were single-income families in which the wife stayed home with the kids.

Today, few of these jobs pay enough to support a middle-class family by themselves. Most manufacturing jobs don't even exist anymore. As for construction, that requires an investment in our infrastructure that has been sorely lacking in recent years. Nurses are now overworked and underpaid, as are our teachers. Very few families manage to get by on a single income, making it difficult to deal with sick children or other family problems.

The problem is systemic, and deeper than just airline pilots.

[sb250guy]

I hear you. I grew up in the 1970s in Massachusetts. I remember when things made sense (pre-Reagan). It started to unravel in the 1980s. We now live in Bizzaro World. If an airline can't make pilots and aircraft maintenance an absolute top priority and spare no expense for either, then we are not a serious country anymore.

[LorettaSingbiel]

The financial meltdown was NOT caused by hard-working families "living above their means". The blame belongs to the WALL STREET & CORPORATE WELFARE RECIPIENTS who've been and are LIVING ABOVE THEIR MEANS.

And if our President doesn't do something about it, hard-working families will SUFFER more of the same!

[dennissinned]

What are they gonna do - outsource to India? lol Interesting to know whether those airline CEOs had any piloting experience. Kinda like leading a country into war without any war background.

[wonketteRAWKS]

The problem is that many have been saying this for years! It applies to pilots, doctors, nurses, soldiers, practically everybody employed! Get as much blood from a rock as you can!

[beekeeper]

No pun in that headline..­. pilot fatigue could run the airline into the ground.... hmmm