DL pilots expected keep their jobs

[Erlanger]

And because they lied about falling asleep. . .

I wonder what may of been different for them if they had admitted to sleeping.

 

[Ad Lib]

FWIW - Sleeping is biological and not always intentional. IMHO get surgery for Sleep Apnea and get back to work. But it is hard to accidentally pull out the laptop.

Not that any of us here know what happened.

 

[scarlet]

Thought Delta had the best pilots in the world. Maybe now they can drop the attitude !!

 

[Flightdawg]

FWIW - Sleeping is biological and not always intentional. IMHO get surgery for Sleep Apnea and get back to work. But it is hard to accidentally pull out the laptop.

Agreed about biological and not always intentional. Regarding Apnea, high body weight can be a factor too.

I hope they do. They messed up- but it's not worth their careers. And none of us can throw stones in the vague "distractions in the flight deck" house. JMO

Agreed on stones. I'm sure they will get their jobs back. It's a matter of how long it will take. Six months? A year? A long to time to be on the beach without a pay check in this economy.

 

[Abernathy]

Too much has been made of "distractions". So it's ok to do revisions, read boring legalese FOMs, fill out logbooks, etc- but not ok if you distract yourself any other way. Sitting at attention blindly staring at screens will not make any human a better pilot- this job has always been multi-tasking. The problem was the flight crew not keeping up with their progress- but a USA today or men's health makes me a more alert pilot- not less. Just glance down every few minutes and you're fine-and you're mind will be much more active and awake.

You don't really believe they were awake when they overflew their destination and were out of radio contact for an incredibly long time, do you?

 

[GOULET!]

Waveflyer, when was the last time you ignored radio calls for over an hour and flew past your destination by a state?

When is the last time you landed a 767 on a 75 foot wide taxiway? No less dangerous than what the NW guys did.

 

[Tail Gunner Joe]

blah, blah, blah ... excluded from ASAP is because they intentionally were violating a rule ... blah, blah, blah

Have you ever intentionally violated a rule?

 

[whymeworry?]

Thought Delta had the best pilots in the world. Maybe now they can drop the attitude !!

HA! So true. History is littered with examples of pilots from various airlines who copped the 'tude only to be humbled at a later point in their careers.

When CAL was in the news earlier this year, all my DAL buddies went out of their way to bust my balls about it every chance they had. Claiming that CAL was 2nd rate, etc. I've even seen DAL pilots on here actually say that CAL is a 2nd tier carrier. We may have a pathetic contract right now but that doesn't make us 2nd rate. Besides, in some for or fashion, everyone has a shty contract right now, save for FDX, SWA and UPS.

When AQ was in their heyday, my buddies there use to chastize me for busting my hump flying into EWR in the wx while they enjoyed being home every night.

When UAL was the place to be, my buddies there use to ask me why I worked for a "scab airline" and to "get yer sht in and come over to United."

We all need to remain humble throughout our careers. Pick your pot-shots carefully. I have a sense of humor just as elastic as the next guy but I never once beat my buddies up once their airlines started having troubles. If anything, I worked hard and went out of my way to help them find jobs.

In fact, just the other day I contacted some NJT buddies, unsolicited, offering to help them with getting an overseas gig.

Nobody is a skygod in avitaion. You either get through the airline interview or your don't. Some of us had a good day that day of the interview, some didn't. Eventually you get hired by someone and you're married to your airline no matter the rough road ahead.

CAL was the media target earlier this year, DAL/ NW is now. Someone will be next. This is an imperfect businees.

The reality is ALPA-N should get off its proverbial a$$ and start balancing out the media onslaught. Why is it that when there is a major avitiaon incident CNN calls up some private pilot/ CFI as an "aviation expert" yet never calls line-flying ALPA representitive? ALPA ought to have a trained team of current line-flying pilots ready to set the media (and the public) straight on the realities facing this profession. In today's hyper-charged news environment we cannot afford to do otherwise.

 

[waveflyer]

blah, blah, blah ... excluded from ASAP is because they intentionally were violating a rule ... blah, blah, blah

Have you ever intentionally violated a rule?

This is my point- too much was made of intentionally violating one of our more ridiculous rules. (Which by the way- are we sure they did? if it was company material- who cares if it's on a laptop or in a manual or bulletin? (assuming they weren't asleep and the story is true))

The focus should be simply on the not monitoring the progress of the flight- and the overflight, NOT on the excuse why. I personally think that the restriction on reading materials not related to flight should be removed. Dont' encourage the practice- but don't forbid it- 90% of us break that rule routinely- and there is a good argument for doing it. Keeping your mind active is a good thing while flying- you just can't get complacent and forget that your primary attention should be on the airplane-- just like when you're getting ATIS or Performance or doing revisions or reading bulletins or anything else-- We prioritize and multi-task all day- if i can squeeze in a sudoku or a magazine article- good. At least i'm not asleep or staring blankly out the side window.

 

[Poahi]

blah, blah, blah ... excluded from ASAP is because they intentionally were violating a rule ... blah, blah, blah

Have you ever intentionally violated a rule?

Okay so if that wasn't enough to pull their tickets, what would?