Here are some links to a youtube clip and an article that lead me to write my thoughts.
767 Near-Miss with the Planet Venus http://www.flight.org/blog/2012/04/21/767-near-miss-with-the-planet-venus/
Its easy to sit and place blame on the regional airlines, and major airlines alike that they are providing employment conditions that are down right dangerous. Salaries, especially in the US are beyond low, with very few options for aspiring pilots to advance their careers. Airlines can choose to pay more, provide better commuting policies and benefits, and fatigue management guidelines as well. But what about the pilot’s choice. Being a pilot for a major international airline, on ultra long haul routes, fatigue is something I deal with every time I go to work. But at the end of the day I have several choices I make that ultimately affect my fatigue at work more then anything else.
In my career thus far I have had several fatiguing days, where I found myself falling asleep in the cockpit. Thankfully with another pilot awake next to me. Those occasions were rare, but they did happen. And I must say, other then one particular flight block, they were as random as the weather. I found myself fatigued on 6 hour days that started at 430am, 15 hour days that started at 10am, and 5 hour days that started at midnight. The one case that almost without fail did not amount to any fatigue, was a short duty day (less then 8 hours) that did not start until noon to about 2 pm. The one flight block that was almost a guarantee to get me sleepy, was a 530am wakeup, and 630pm duty end time. By the 5th leg of the day which departed at 1230, as soon as we climbed through the clouds into the sunshine, i found myself getting tired, and occasionally dozing off. A contributing factor on this flight was flying an unpressurized airplane, where the lack of oxygen at 13,000 feet would take its toll and create fatigue as well.
All factors aside, there was always one way I could combat fatigue while flying. Getting enough, high quality sleep. Transport Canada regulates rest to be in a dark, temperature controlled, quiet room with a bed. As we see in these crash pads, and crew room sleepers, this is not the case. I can say without any hesitation however, that if I had 8 hours sleep in a comfortable bed, I would be fine to work a 15 hour day afterwords.
So the real question is, why do pilots decide to take under paying jobs in expensive city where they feel the best option is to commute. All pilots have a dream to fly, and how they make that dream happen is where these problems arise. Some pilots chase money, some a large airliner, some a great schedule. In many cases to get to these dreams, we have to make short term sacrifices. Bad schedules, flying small regional turbo props or jets, for next to no money. So why do we do that? Is there no other option? In Canada there definitely are better options. In fact the job I had prior to the major international airline I fly for now, was as good as it gets for the starting out level of the industry. I worked an average of 11 days a month last year, and made more then 100 dollars per hour flying. All the while gaining valuable experience to get to where I am today. Yet many of my former coworkers moved to a regional airline, and suffered a 30,000 dollar paycut in the process. Some even decided to commute. One in particular was forced to sell his condo in his hometown, and move to a crash pad in his new base. He told me in his last month before making that move, he saw his own bed twice.
Is it a complete lack of education on the industry that leads pilots to make these life changing decisions? My father, a retired airline pilot of 39 years, commuted for more then half of those years, but he did that once he had a salary and schedule that would allow it. Where he could afford a night in a nice hotel before starting the work the next morning. He also waited to commute until he was on a widebody fleet doing international flying, meaning he only went on 3 to 4 trips a month. Rather then the 6-10 trips a domestic pilot would fly.
So regional airlines do not pay enough. No argument there. But roommates and spouses who work are a definite solution to this problem which is killing pilots and killing the industry. Can we as pilots not overcome this ourselves? Without the airlines help? I say yes. Pay increases are needed for several reasons, but the major issue commuting fatigue is one we can fix ourselves with no help from anyone else. It’s our choice.
pushin4onthesecondfloor 