U.S. Airlines And A Shortage Of Pilots
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-11-15/us-airlines-and-shortage-pilots
It was nearly four years ago that Colgan Air flight 3407 from New Jersey crashed on its way to Buffalo, N.Y. All 49 passengers and crew were killed. Accident investigators blamed pilot error, and calls mounted for stricter oversight of regional airlines. As a result, new regulations for pilots are set to take effect beginning next summer. No one is against enhancing air travel safety, but some aviation experts are concerned the rules are too strict and could contribute to a severe pilot shortage. Pilots unions argue the situation is not that dire. Diane and her guests discuss new rules for pilots and the implications for airlines and travelers.
Guests
Andy Pasztor
senior special writer for The Wall Street Journal, specializing in aviation and space.
Captain Lee Moak
president of the Air Line Pilots Association, International.
Roger Cohen
president, Regional Airline Association.
Comments
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Definitely overkill. I fly a lot, and everybody wants to be safe. But when you look at the history of air crashes in the U.S., how many of them are due to weather? How many are due to pilot error due to inexperience? How many are point to point domestic flights? Anymore, if weather on domestic flights is bad, the plane doesn't take off. Considering the number of domestic flights that take off, accidents are RARE. America is still the safest place to fly. Pilot shortages are only going to INCREASE the stress on current pilots, increase the cost of flying, and likely make things worse. This is another example of government overreach.
We can never make air travel too safe. Pilot shortages? Train more pilots. Increase cost of flying? By all means. But ensure that planes don't crash for any reason, weather, pilot fatigue, or incompetent air traffic controllers.
New technologies will replace human pilots. Control systems are becoming more brain-like in structure and function. They have massively parallel architectures that degrade gracefully as individual components fail. They adapt to new circumstances (such as failures in flight controls). Examples include the European Human Brain Project, DARPA’s SyNAPSE program, the Navy’s X-47B autonomous aircraft, and the Air Force’s X-37B autonomous space plane. In 50 years the airline pilot job will be gone.
Tom Deacon wrote:
"We can never make air travel too safe."
A nonsensical position. There is always going to be risk. Can we make auto travel "too safe"?
"But ensure that planes don't crash for any reason, weather, pilot fatigue, or incompetent air traffic controllers."
Impossible, unless you are God.
So call God!
Additional tidbits that may stimulate discussion:
NEXTGEN (the air traffic control modernization program) will enable data communications with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Congress has ordered the FAA to open up the entire National Airspace System (NAS) to UAV’s by September 2015.
The military in many countries have put a tremendous amount of effort into developing UAV technology. Thus, like other technologies (radar, jet engines, metal aircraft, etc), the military develops a technology first and then, as the technology matures, it migrates into civilian applications.
We will likely see the development of unmanned airliners in phases.
First, unmanned cargo aircraft (5 to 10 years from now).
Second, single pilot airliners.
Third, unmanned airliners.
For further information:
Ross, PE (2011). “When Will We Have Unmanned Commercial Airliners?” IEEE Spectrum.
Diane:
For over fifteen years I flew across country a lot between Menlo Park, CA and DC, then DC and Portland, OR. I have, for the most part, stopped flying. After talks with my cousin, who is a pilot (retired), and the stories he has told me about near misses that we will never know about, I’m done until the new rules are in. There’s outsourced maintenance with guys that can’t read English; tired, cheaply paid regional pilots who can’t afford hotel rooms to sleep; nickel and dimed passengers who pay for darned near breathing air; and profits going into the pockets of the 1% executives. Wake me when Obama and Occupy team up for us 99% or as Mitt calls us, the 47%.
Kate
Tom Deacon wrote:
"So call God!"
C'mon Tom. Be serious. The point is, the only way to ensure that "planes don't crash for any reason" is to never take off. It just isn't a serious position. There will always be risk. It's just a matter of how much risk we are willing to accept for the price. Once you leave the ground, the risk can never be zero.
The same is true of automobile travel. There is a certain amount of risk of fatal car crashes we are willing to accept to permit "reasonable" auto travel. We could ELIMINATE fatal car crashes by setting speed limits at 10mph, but the economy would come to a screeching halt and your bag of corn chips would go from 1.79 to 17.99 over night.
So "we can never make air travel too safe" is not a reasonable statement to make. The cost of flying would become prohibitive to all but the ... well ... the 1%. Is that what you want?
Solution: Reregulate airlines and double the price of tickets.
Result: Fewer people flying less often. Fewer pilots and other personnel needed.
Good for the environment and energy conservation.
Stabilizes airline corporations.
Makes skies roomier and safer.
Forces greater use of electronic communications.
Encourages people to move to the place they most enjoy.
Is air combat in war the best source of airbus pilots?
Do drones mean young gamers may soon be remote chauffeuring 300 travelers?
Israel attacking Gaza and the Rehm show talking about airline pilots. Don't know if Diane and her team have missed it (clearly they choose to ignore) that the Israeli Palestinian conflict is in the top three reasons stated for the hatred in that part of the world towards the U.S. in the 9/11 commission report as well as by top foreign policy experts. When will the Rehm show focus on the ongoing expansion of illegal settlements and illegal housing in E Jerusalem..when hell freezes over? Or when the only solution is a one state solution and with the way Israel keeps expanding and building illegal settlements in the West Bank they are closing the door completely to a two state solution. Rehm show ignoring this
kathleen: Now what color was that dead baby?
Ditto on the one state democracy solution in greater Palestine.
Putting religious extremists in charge is as dangerous in Judiasm as in Islam.
Thank you Diane! Sad, that you have to remind guests how to have respect civil discourse, but thank you for not being desensitized to it and letting it go by unchecked.
Jason: If she didn't keep a hickory behind her chair the studio pix would resemble the Three Stooges. Remember: An expert is a "talkative guy from out of town."
Pancake Rankin wrote:
"Solution: Reregulate airlines and double the price of tickets.
Result: Fewer people flying less often. Fewer pilots and other personnel needed."
Additional result: More people driving, using busses and trains. Just as bad if not worse for the environment and probably worse for energy conservation.
"Makes", "Forces", and "Encourages". All hallmarks of the heavy hand of government, and all indicative of a bad idea. Sorry.
There is nothing wrong in foreign airlines luring US trained pilots. The government will not be able to overcome the "market reality".
US companies lure foreign trained engineers, scientists and doctors. So this is a trade off of global workd we live in today.
The real issue is that there is no good railway system ( or alternate to air transport ) in most of US.
Good to know whats going on with pilots.......Never mind the mechanics.
poverty wages, overworked, outside work 99% of the time(cold/rain/storm)
I quit the industry after 20 years because of one simple reason is NO FUTURE and is no new generation going to replace the out going guys.
By the way Mr pilot never looks down to see that hard working mechanic and say thanks
eggy: There is no greater coercion than a system keeping half the population in poverty so less than 1% can waste 90% of everything.
No one will drive from Florida to California that often, too much missed work. No one will ever drive to Hawaii or Paris. Trains? Just another good incentive for efficient public transportaion.
(You seem more rational than usual today. Is the stock drop soberig you up?)
As an Embry Riddle alumni, and many friends from Riddle, I do not know anyone still flying commercial. They have all left commercial for private, military, or changed professions all together or gone back to college due to poor scheduling and inadequate pay from the airlines.
I have a business owner friend who is paying for all his training and dreams of flying commercial, but he is clearly caught up in the old romance of what was once a great profession. I've warned him that it is not what he thinks and that he will miss having his business. But, he is close to achieving his dream. It will be interesting to see how his situation progresses.
Diane: it was refreshing to hear you go on politeness patrol and call out your guest for using the word "hogwash" to describe another guest's position, but manners were only part of the problem with that statement.
His premise seemed to be that anyone who isn't a pilot can't understand how great it is to be a pilot, and that non-pilots aren't qualified to say whether the profession has or has not lost its cachet.
Sorry, sir, but non-pilots are the ONLY people qualified to pass judgement on that question. If you're already inside the profession, you're welcome to sing its praises -- but folks in the choir can't accurately assess whether those songs ring true or hollow for the people outside. The pool from which you need to attract new talent may not be impressed by such bluster.
My uncle was a pilot for US Airway for many years, eventually achieving seniority within the company and the responsibility of training other pilots. After US Airway filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and again in 2004, we watched him struggle (along with many other pilots) with the elimination of his pension plan, reduced pay, increased hours, and a schedule that allowed him less and less time for family and rest. To me, the career of a commercial pilot holds no glamour whatsoever, especially not at the miserly starting salary of 18,000 a year (the equivalent of what I made my first year out of of college working as a freelance artist).
HOGWASH. Guess Diane feels that when individuals lie they shouldn't be called out on it. Just another example of ineptitude marching forward towards the defunding of NPR
It would be interesting to know if any studies have been done to see if busting the unions has affected the safety of air travel. Air traffic controller's union, pilot's union, etc.
Is the age of 44 to old to start a career as an airline pilot?
I’ve worked for many years in transportation. I am outraged that a taxi driver earns more than a regional pilot. Not that taxi drivers deserve less, but with low hours, and the high cost of training. salaries need to be higher.
Low salaries will cause pilots to seek part time work to put food on their family’s table. Also, in some cases it may cause pilots to live further away from work. The stress from long commutes, a part-time job to fill financial gap, and will translate into accidents.
This kind of reduction in salaries is going on across all industries. Labor laws need to strengthen so everyone in America has a living wage, and workers are not stressed to the breaking point.
Having spent a carreer working with the elderly, Mrs. Rehm's behavior is typical of the aging process as her mind becomes addled. She'll deny it, which just adds more evidence for the aformentioned state.
ssengupta wrote:
"There is nothing wrong in foreign airlines luring US trained pilots. The government will not be able to overcome the "market reality".
US companies lure foreign trained engineers, scientists and doctors. So this is a trade off of global workd we live in today."
See! You get it! Labor markets are world markets today. It's not 1950 anymore. Whether it's airline pilots or manufacturing, you might as well deal with reality.
"The real issue is that there is no good railway system ( or alternate to air transport ) in most of US."
I hear you, but this is not a practical reality. If you are wanting to compare the speed and efficiency of rail travel, in Europe say, to that of the U.S., you are comparing apples and oranges. It is one thing to hop on a train to travel a few hundred miles across Germany or France, vs. hopping on a train to travel a few THOUSAND miles from NY to LA - when you can get on a plane and be there in 3 hours, who wants to get on even a high-speed train when it will take you all day.
WOW, you are as deluded as Diane has become.
WOW, you are as deluded as Diane has become.
Why safety expert and Captain Chesley Sullenberger was not invited for this debate? Here is his November 12, 2012 CBS interview:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50134972n&tag=mncol;lst;1
Southwest Airlines and other airlines have been stealing Tax payer trained pilots from US airforce.
Pancake Rankin wrote:
"There is no greater coercion than a system keeping half the population in poverty so less than 1% can waste 90% of everything."
Oh, puleeze!!! Must everything be class warfare for you?
"No one will drive from Florida to California that often, too much missed work."
So in the greatest country on earth with a great transportation system, government regulation should control whether people can visit their grandkids? Not everybody works, you know, and the non-working force gets bigger every day due to UE and retirement. Yeah, let's punish those people by making travel more expensive/difficult.
"Trains? Just another good incentive for efficient public transportaion."
Actually, our rail system is as good an argument for air travel as you can find.
"(You seem more rational than usual today."
I'm rational every day, Pancake. Read carefully, think outside the box, and you just might see it!
" Is the stock drop soberig you up?)"
Nope. Much to your chagrin, when the market starts to tank, I go short - like a rational person would do.