Who is Skywest pilot in Utah who was in USAToday Editorials on FRI?

[WayBack]

However, the reader's statement that he'd rather trust his life to the pilot who flies four or five legs a day into substandard airports in bad weather than the pilot flying from Los Angeles to New York is naive. It ignores the fact that the L.A.-to-N.Y. pilot generally has many more years of experience. To fly those routes, he has undoubtedly "paid his dues" many times over. To achieve that position, he likely has military and combat training as well as more experience, while the first pilot is generally much younger and has a ways to go before he has "seen it all."

Who would you rather have had at the controls of the US Airways flight last year? I'll cast my lot with Capt. Chesley Sullenberger over Capt. Doogie Howser every time.

Chances are this guy isn't even a major pilot at all, just some RJ guy who was pissed about the comment. If he is, when then he should have just said "Let's get the ruler out and measure e'm boys!". I don't under stand the response, what is it going to prove?
As for the major who has "paid their dues" that's not so much these days. Just look at PFT128, he has less real world experience that a regional FO who built all his time flying boxes, or instructing. Not paying to fly a King Air around Florida. Also, there aren't that many Military guys at the majors like their used to be. They're now picking FedEx, UPS and some 135/91 jobs out there because of the pay being better....like myself.

That's great. Can a mainline pilot even fly a mainline plane into Aspen? Nope, can't fit one in there.

I have that problem with all the girls I have slept with.

Have any Regional pilots flown down to Quito, Ecuador lately? Ever seen big Volcanos up close, followed by flying down a tight valley with buildings, onto a rundown airport that is at 10,000 ft elevation?

Give it time, these regionals flying the 170/190's will be down there soon enough.

Congrats on ASE or JAC, but there are many more places all around the world that have worse ATC communications (can't speak English--kinda like JFK) and very little help when it comes to wx warnings or traffic warnings. Try understanding anything the Moscow controllers say, and the altitudes are metric or in meters.

Wow, this is the kind of stuff that wakes you up in the middle of the night? Try a teddy bear or soothing music. Works great for my baby.

Keep zeroing in on those few mountain approaches with two miles visibility, and forgetting there is a WHOLE WIDE WORLD out there with other challenges that some 3rd year SKW pilot couldn't even comprehend. At least he has all of that experience to guide him through the day. That mainline pilot he talks about may be flying from LAX to JFK one day, but then onto Dakar, Senegal the next. Where is the SKW pilot going the next day? Tulsa.

Bye Bye--General Lee

It truly amazes me how upset this kid made some of you guys. He's a 3rd year FO, who the hell takes any FO seriously? The kid is still happy he's flying a jet and just wanted to see his name in the paper associated with being an airline pilot. Dork? Yes, very much so. He probably gave the interview on his off day, but still wore his uniform. He might even had his friends there to take pictures of him talking to the reporter because they were seeking his "professional opinion" as a pilot.

For the most part major pilots know not to talk to the media or put their name out there. But you still have pilots at the major level who pull stupid stunts in public, such as posting very nicely edited movies on YouTube. Yes, regional guys do it as well, but they're expected to be stupid. But the major guys should be smart enough that it could be a career ending move.

 

[johnsonrod]

Wayback,

Why do you care at all? You either know this kid or you are him. He made a mistake, and people need to know that it just isn't smart to leave yourself open to potential problems down the road. If you don't think that is the case, then you don't know Human Resource people. I know the ones at my airline, and they love looking for stuff like this. They enjoy the "search."

 

[johnsonrod]

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010...ed-pilots-graduate-to-latony-routes.html#more

Experienced pilots graduate to L.A.-to-N.Y. routes
Ray Fortner - Cocoa Beach, Fla.

As a captain for a major U.S. airline, with more than 32 years in a cockpit, I feel compelled to comment on the letter about the experience of pilots ("Universal standards," Friday).

The reader is correct that all commercial pilots are held to the standards of the Federal Aviation Regulations. I would point out that the FARs are minimums, and most professional pilots and companies strive to exceed these minimums each day.

However, the reader's statement that he'd rather trust his life to the pilot who flies four or five legs a day into substandard airports in bad weather than the pilot flying from Los Angeles to New York is naive. It ignores the fact that the L.A.-to-N.Y. pilot generally has many more years of experience. To fly those routes, he has undoubtedly "paid his dues" many times over. To achieve that position, he likely has military and combat training as well as more experience, while the first pilot is generally much younger and has a ways to go before he has "seen it all."

Who would you rather have had at the controls of the US Airways flight last year? I'll cast my lot with Capt. Chesley Sullenberger over Capt. Doogie Howser every time.

Now that is funny! Thanks for posting it again BHopper88. Wayback, I guess you can argue your points with everyone, but most of the expereinced mainline guys will probably disagree with you. No surprise there. I hope to attain mainline status someday myself.

 

[WayBack]

Wayback,

Why do you care at all? You either know this kid or you are him. He made a mistake, and people need to know that it just isn't smart to leave yourself open to potential problems down the road. If you don't think that is the case, then you don't know Human Resource people. I know the ones at my airline, and they love looking for stuff like this. They enjoy the "search."

You are correct, he made a mistake and he should know to never do it again. But for the problems down the road, it really depends on what the kid said. But if he really believes that regional pilots are more experienced, than he's a Ding Dong. But I hope he mis worded it, where he should have said that pilots who fly into Aspen 4-5 times a day are currently more experienced in that environment than mainline guys who fly LAX-JFK each day.
All that did was bruise some peoples egos. But to say this guys career is over and he will never move on, then that's just stupid. People won't remember this story 2 years from now.
I'd like to know which company you work for. The airlines I have worked for, their HR was more worried about what was for lunch, if they were going to get out of work early, where they were drinking that night and if they could possibly get a 3 day weekend. Ever since background checks by a 2nd party has been done, they have been allowing that to do all their research for them.

Now if the kid said something really off the wall, such as "The major airlines are a has been career, and the new regionals is where it's at! Plus ALPA sucks and major airline pilots tend to smell like dirty diapers. CEO's of major airlines belong in jail, but sleeping with their ugly, hideous, broken down battleship of a wife is punishment enough." Then yeah, I can see him not getting an interview.
Good luck getting on with a major, to each their own. I personally got sick of the airlines and got out. It's those that who refuse to leave, but continue to scream and moan the most that make the airlines a great place to work.

 

[WayBack]

Now that is funny! Thanks for posting it again BHopper88. Wayback, I guess you can argue your points with everyone, but most of the expereinced mainline guys will probably disagree with you. No surprise there. I hope to attain mainline status someday myself.

My points have nothing to do with "experienced mainline guys". I'm just pointing out that things that you get so wound up about, others don't even think twice about it. Unless they're really bored, I don't see why an experienced major captain would be upset about this. They know the difference, and don't need to sit around and bicker about it. If everyone felt the same way you did, you know how many mainline guys would respond to the article? So far only one got his panties in a bunch.
I know a few mainline guys, and they don't pay attention to what's going on at the regionals and they don't really care. A few of them had no idea what Go-Jets was after they had been in service for 2 years, or the politics behind it. It's because they worry about themselves, and not what some regional FO is saying. They don't see the point in arguing/complaining about the same thing a regional pilot would.
It's very much like High School in College. Once you get to college, you really just don't care whats going on in HS, and you leave all the drama behind.


Seriously though, good luck at the majors. I mean it. Just don't be like some of the guys I came across when I was at the regionals. Don't be that guy who is so terrified that if you say something negative about the major, it will be heard through the grapevine and you'll ruin your chances. One guy in particular was a union rep, and he would refuse that any BS being handed down to us, was being dealt by mainline management. He blamed regional management only, when it was written on paper that it was mainline. But he would argue that it's regional management trying to put it off as mainlines idea to cover their own rear. Just naive as ever.

 

[DX Rick]

Here is the thread I mentioned earlier.

Speaking to an old co-worker, he said that this guy is now at SWA. But maybe because they're only a lowly LCC, not a Legacy carrier.

 

[rogerwilcoout]

Shut up, nancy.




eP.

lol spot on

 

[Nevets]

Oh, so he only appeared in front of Congress after the Colgan crash. Why not before? Probably because congress was more worried about baseball and steroids than the pilots. Congress only cares after an accident like that, then as the time passes they worry about other issues.

Guess who else they talked to? Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, just another line pilot. Let's me ask you this, who do you think made a bigger impact on the issue? I don't remember seeing the media showing Praters remarks. No, instead they highlighted the guy who actually has accomplished his own successful business on the side of his flying, who has dedicated his time to make aviation safer (This all before he sat on ALPA's safety chair) then landed an airplane in the Hudson.
They didn't care what the guy who is collecting a big fat check, just to make public appearances in his uniform.
If you think Government cares about what the president of an association has to say, you must be mistaken. Gov. has allowed the demise of union pilots when judges allowed those contracts to be thrown out, and pay to be cut.

No, he appeared before the crash as well. Apparently, congress wanted his opinion and asked him to testify before and after the crash. And on the Sully ditching as well! I mean, why would they ask the ALPA president to testify about a non-ALPA crash? I guess government cared enough about ALPA's opinion to ask them about a non-ALPA crash. And ALPA's impact was made where it counts, directly to congress, and not just through the back door of the media and the masses that consume it, which only a small percentage would write their congressman about.

And thanks for finally acknowledging that it wasn't ALPA that "allowed the demise of union pilots when judges allowed those contracts to be thrown out, and pay to be cut."

 

[WayBack]

And thanks for finally acknowledging that it wasn't ALPA that "allowed the demise of union pilots when judges allowed those contracts to be thrown out, and pay to be cut."

You really need to brush up on your sarcasm detecting. For me to say that actually mean it, I would have to be as dumb as a PFT guy who went to GIA.

While you're at it, you need to practice on not replying to every anti-alpa comment made on here. You're going to give yourself high blood pressure.