Sully to the rescue again!

[JumpersAway]

The way I see it, Airline Pilots are tradespeople. Much like welders, carpenters, computer programmers, etc.- we seek the maximum amount of compensation we can for the skill provided. As a result, the airlines that pay the most get the choice applicants, or as I call it, the "cream of the crop". As wages decrease towards the lower regionals, the resume' pile shortens. Thusly, the airlines that pay the least end up with the leftovers, or as I term it, the "cream of the CRAP". That's where the similation between safety and pay comes in.

 

[aussieflyboy]

Sully wasn't talking about ASA/XJT. He was talking about regionals...not SUPER regionals.

Thanks a lot bro, you just made me snort out my coke zero, sans ice.

What a bunch of wankers our management is...

 

[chqflyer]

Sorry but don't agree w/ the 'great' Sully! At ASA We have a damn good safety record, and safety is stressed. We do have our problems once in while, like ALL airlines do, including the majors. Could some things be improved? Of course they can, and they're being addressed.

Not to come across too harsh, but just because your company hasn't killed anyone yet doesn't mean it's as safe as a mainline operation. My company hasn't killed anyone yet either. It's really just damn luck, and sooner or later the luck runs out. I don't care how many times Sully goes around tooting his horn. I can say with almost certainty that if this had happened to a regional crew, the last words on the CVR would've been something along the lines of "dude, we're gonna hit those buildings" as they stalled/spun it in.

 

[DYLIN]

Sorry but don't agree w/ the 'great' Sully! At ASA We have a damn good safety record, and safety is stressed. We do have our problems once in while, like ALL airlines do, including the majors. Could some things be improved? Of course they can, and they're being addressed.

As was mentioned though, you cannot say "it's safe" simply because there hasn't been a crash.

The duty days are, on average, longer and the experience level of new hires is less at ASA then the legacies and those are just two quick examples.

 

[HA25]

Sorry but don't agree w/ the 'great' Sully! At ASA We have a damn good safety record, and safety is stressed. We do have our problems once in while, like ALL airlines do, including the majors. Could some things be improved? Of course they can, and they're being addressed.

I was a captain at ASA back in the late 90's and unless a lot has changed since then, it wasn't all that hot to trot... 400 hour FO's that had no idea where they were 1/2 the time, and flying single pilot on an approach after a long duty day with 6-8 legs... I'll pass.

 

[Abernathy]

Sorry but don't agree w/ the 'great' Sully! At ASA We have a damn good safety record, and safety is stressed. We do have our problems once in while, like ALL airlines do, including the majors. Could some things be improved? Of course they can, and they're being addressed.

safety is "stressed" everywhere. even mcdonalds..

 

[Microclimates]

Yup I am sick and tired of everyone assuming flying regionals is signing your life away.

first off, statistically speaking the highest threat to a flight is in the terminal environment. A regional pilot spends 70% of their flight time in the terminal environment. A unical pilot does blasts off to read the paper at 370 and lands once 8 hours later... yet nobody adjusts the accidents stats for this very basic factor. I would bet that if they did, it might even turn out that regional pilots are safer :0 . They are most likely more proficient/ current... how many approaches does a mainline pilot fly in a month?

Secondly. I was dumbseating on UAL LAX-JFK and snoozing happily until I felt a missed approach. turned out we had a flaps disagree that needed to be addressed. I was very surprised by how quickly that flight deck came apart procedure-wise, it was truly asses and elbows. not what I was expecting from the mighty legacy pilots/training/procedures...

just sayin.

Thirdly, the past 5 or 6 years have seen quite a few close calls by the legacies: the fact that nobody died was dumb luck: AA in Puerto Rico running off the end of the runway, AA in ORD running off the end of the runway and onto 32L, Co in DEN...

 

[IBNAV8R]

I guess that's why there's a separate FAR 121 subpart just for regionals. Separate FAA too.

 

[HA25]

Yup I am sick and tired of everyone assuming flying regionals is signing your life away.

first off, statistically speaking the highest threat to a flight is in the terminal environment. A regional pilot spends 70% of their flight time in the terminal environment. A unical pilot does blasts off to read the paper at 370 and lands once 8 hours later... yet nobody adjusts the accidents stats for this very basic factor. I would bet that if they did, it might even turn out that regional pilots are safer :0 . They are most likely more proficient/ current... how many approaches does a mainline pilot fly in a month?

Secondly. I was dumbseating on UAL LAX-JFK and snoozing happily until I felt a missed approach. turned out we had a flaps disagree that needed to be addressed. I was very surprised by how quickly that flight deck came apart procedure-wise, it was truly asses and elbows. not what I was expecting from the mighty legacy pilots/training/procedures...

just sayin.

Thirdly, the past 5 or 6 years have seen quite a few close calls by the legacies: the fact that nobody died was dumb luck: AA in Puerto Rico running off the end of the runway, AA in ORD running off the end of the runway and onto 32L, Co in DEN...

as often as you're flying approaches, you should me MORE proficient and not less... therefore safer.

Most international pilots (myself included) get maybe 2-3 landings a months and maybe a true instrument approach once at a month at most.. how many wide body jets do you see crashing all over the world?

 

[temcgrew]

The way I see it, Airline Pilots are tradespeople. Much like welders, carpenters, computer programmers, etc.- we seek the maximum amount of compensation we can for the skill provided. As a result, the airlines that pay the most get the choice applicants, or as I call it, the "cream of the crop". As wages decrease towards the lower regionals, the resume' pile shortens. Thusly, the airlines that pay the least end up with the leftovers, or as I term it, the "cream of the CRAP". That's where the similation between safety and pay comes in.

I can't disagree more. As a third generation airline pilot, you should know that majors don't hire the "best of the best". They hire by internal recommendations. The majors have more applicants because they pay better but that doesn't mean they get the cream of the crop of those applicants. When I worked for a regional, I saw plenty of pilots get on with the majors who were horrible pilots with crappy work ethics while the respected pilots got shot down time and time again. I also saw guys with connections get hired with bare bones minimums while guys with 10,000 hours couldn't even get an interview! It's who you know, and nothing else. If you want to stroke your own ego then keep believing.