Here is what the head of the FAA really thinks of the profession...

[piav8r]

Wow... coming from the head of the FAA, a former pilot, and a former union president... Maybe if everyone treated us like professionals instead of Greyhound bus drivers things would be different... Thanks Randy!

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_arti...27862&catid=14

Pilots must "refocus" on professionalism...

WASHINGTON -- The nation's top aviation official says the Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot Minneapolis are part of a larger problem of professionalism among commercial airline pilots.
Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Randy Babbitt told an international aviation club on Wednesday that aviation is facing an "extreme need to refocus on professionalism."
He pointed to Northwest Flight 188, which overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles because the pilots were working on their laptops. He also noted the regional airliner that crashed earlier this year near Buffalo, N.Y., killing 50 people.
A former airline pilot and pilot union president, Babbitt says that in both cases the pilots forgot their first job was to focus on flying the plane.

 

[Hobit]

What was his job after leaving ALPA?

 

[Dan Roman]

I think he is right. There is a significant lack of professionalism in these incidents. I guess the question is, is it a symptom of the attack on our profession by management or is it a lack of caring about being a good pilot by some in our ranks.

 

[Bruno82]

Management tries to make pilots less professional to justify worse pay.

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

Management tries to make pilots less professional to justify worse pay.

I don't think so, actually. The reason the pay sucks is due to market forces that we as a profession helped create. The battle was lost as soon as the first airplane wearing the colors of the parent airline departed with non-mainline seniority list pilots at the controls. Had the Unions of the day insisted that brand scope was "a hill to die on", we would not be in the whipsaw fest we are in now. Basically, ALPA ate its young and we have been fighting the effects of that mistake ever since.

 

[flyboyike]

The battle was lost as soon as the first airplane wearing the colors of the parent airline departed with non-mainline seniority list pilots at the controls.

Amen.

The amazing thing is that there are some at mainline carriers who don't understand that to this day.

 

[WSurf]

I don't think so, actually. The reason the pay sucks is due to market forces that we as a profession helped create. The battle was lost as soon as the first airplane wearing the colors of the parent airline departed with non-mainline seniority list pilots at the controls. Had the Unions of the day insisted that brand scope was "a hill to die on", we would not be in the whipsaw fest we are in now. Basically, ALPA ate its young and we have been fighting the effects of that mistake ever since.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! Now you got FO's flying the 190's for 23.00hr and are proud and happy about it.

 

[CFI2766]

I don't think so, actually. The reason the pay sucks is due to market forces that we as a profession helped create. The battle was lost as soon as the first airplane wearing the colors of the parent airline departed with non-mainline seniority list pilots at the controls. Had the Unions of the day insisted that brand scope was "a hill to die on", we would not be in the whipsaw fest we are in now. Basically, ALPA ate its young and we have been fighting the effects of that mistake ever since.

Concur.

 

[CFI2766]

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! Now you got FO's flying the 190's for 23.00hr and are proud and happy about it.

It is easy to blame the new FOs, isn't it?

It's not their fault. The primary goal of every airline pilot is to advance his or her own career; not yours. If the path to the metaphorical left seat of the 747 is through the right seat of the RJ, so be it. Give the FO another path, that is better for the FO, and he or she will take it.

 

[makersmarc]

It is easy to blame the new FOs, isn't it?

It's not their fault. The primary goal of every airline pilot is to advance his or her own career; not yours. If the path to the metaphorical left seat of the 747 is through the right seat of the RJ, so be it. Give the FO another path, that is better for the FO, and he or she will take it.

That is spot on, in my opinion.

With regard to the professionalism of the crew that overshot MSP: While this was an isolated incident, it certainly makes ALL of us look bad.