I see your point. However, considering the "public image" concerns, shouldn't all professional pilots be represented equally?
Not at all...the perils of CFIs, test pilots, fighter pilots, banner tow pilots, ag pilots, bush pilots, sim-instructors, FAA inspectors, traffic reporters, and astronauts is not, and should not be, a concern of ALPA.
Flying is safer:
Fatalities per million trips (on a single trip)
Airliner: 0.019
Automobile: 0.130
I have no doubt about that on AVERAGE...
But right now on AVERAGE the experience level on the flight decks of US airliners is very high so we have a very impresive safety record on average. However, "there are only 3 kinds of lies...lies, damn-lies, and statistics." Right now people only care about the overall average because we haven't made them care about any other measure.
...but more importantly you and the general public are missing the point...and that is the WHY. I don't think our message should be flying is dangerous so STAY AWAY. I think our message should be, and the reality is, that flying is inherintly dangerous unless you have experienced properly trained crews flying the airplane that you are on that day.
Side note:
I just googled "Driving vs Flying" and all but one link on the first page were related to COST comparisons, not safety comparisons. Even googling "driving vs flying safety 2009" yielded a suprising amount of cost-related links. COST is the primary concern of the public...particularly in this economic environmet.
You are absolutely correct while proving my point. Of course the public doesn't care about airline safety because right now we are operating in an environment where the presumption is that airline flying is safe. Why should they be looking it up? They don't care...they don't need to worry about it because they take the safety of flying for granted just like people before the 1980's took the safety of their tap water for granted. Who's going to pay $6 a gallon for water in a bottle when they already get it for practically FREE pumped straight to there homes?
Do you think that people in the 60's thought about all the lead, anti-biotics, pesticide runoff, etc. getting into their tap-water. No-absolutely not. Somebody MADE THEM CARE and changed enough people's perception about tap-water to create a multi-billion dollar industry out of nothing.
Too many competent ATPs??!! We can't be having that now, can we?
I think your point is that there are too many pilots seeking employment on the street. I agree.
No my point is that there are too many ATP's...ATP's in the sense that they are qualified/should be qualified to pilot an airliner. Way too many.
So, eventhough he posseses some hardcore flying experience and survived life as a bush pilot, he needs to go to school to be taught how to fly? "Sure, you can fly a plane, but can you engage an autopilot?"
Yes...and yes.
I built computer systems in college for myself and a few friends (not to the degree of Michael Dell obviously), however when I was flight instructing I went to a Computer City to get a part-time job as a computer tech...not really a tech, just an installer... I was TURNED DOWN outright. I was told to call back when I got my "A+" certification.
Just because you don't meet the qualifications for a job, does not mean you can't do the job. This is not as far fetched an idea as you make it seem. Is a 1500 hour pilot really that much more qualified then a pilot with 1499 hours?
So, a 15,000 pilot with 4,000 PIC in a 737 who isn't a member of ALPA would not get a job while a 5,000 hour pilot who IS a member of ALPA would get the job?
I never said they had to be a member of ALPA. I advocate following the ABA/AMA model, which does not require lawyers/doctors to be members, however they positioned themselves as the authorities on the certification of law./docs and they convinced almost all 50 states and the federal government to adopt there standards when passing regulations...to the point where if you look up a lawyer job or a doctor job you will see the phrase "graduate of an ABA/AMA approved school..."
Barriers to entry ALREADY EXIST! Apparently, these "barriers" were easily conquered. Learning to fly doesn't take brains...it only takes money.
And people wonder why our pay is falling as the years go by. We are our own worst enemy.
Since driving is so much more dangerous than flying, do you check the creds of a taxi driver before you get in? Off the top of your head, which is the safest cab company? You trust your life to that driver (particularly when you're blasted and on your way home from the bar). You don't care...you only want the cheapest fare in a car that isn't actually on fire.
Not true, however there is no real way for me to determine what the safety record is of a particular driver that picks me up. If I could go on line and see that the driver of cab 666 has killed 7 people in 3 seperate fatal accidents in the past 12 months, you can bet I'm going to take the next cab.
"Perceived value" works well with stuff that costs $2.00 a can...not so well when it involves hundreds or possible of thousands of dollars. The public sees flying as an acceptably safe way of traveling.
Oh really? Then why did the Toyotal Corolla in the 90's outsell the GEO Prizm almost 2 to 1 even though both were made side-by-side on the same assembly line, with the only real difference being the name plate and the price...the Corolla was more expensive!
Short of public scare campagins (which would be incredibly unethical) or intentionally damaging airplanes (which is a criminal act) this feeling won't change.
Especially if we don't do anything different.
The other route involves friendly, informative media highlighting the airlines under the ALPA umbrella. Customers will compare the costs and make a decision...and probably side with the cheaper fare anyway.
Again, this is not about highlighting ALPA...it's about making people care what the qualifications are of the pilots on there airplanes. Maybe the answer isn't ALPA...maybe it's some other organization...maybe a joint venture with APA and SWAPA. At the end of all this the goal is to make Joe Customer CARE if his Captain has 1,500 hours or 15,000 hours and be willing to pay a little extra for it. I disagree with your basic assumption that Joe Customer doesn't care about this. I think that right now he is just a little naive. I think that Joe Customer, after learning that it is important, and given a way to differentiate the two at the time of purchase, would end up paying a little bit extra to fly with a more expeirenced crew.
How much money should ALPA throw at this effort?
As much as it takes.
