Who's flying your plane?

[Hosakawa Tito]

A little over 1 year ago we had a tragic commuter plane crash several miles from Buffalo International Airport, Colgan Flight 3407.

Cause of the crash: Minimum wage poorly trained flight crew. The FAA is nothing more than a cheerleader for the airline industry and has been dragging it's feet for years on airline safety issues.

February 4, 2010 - Washington, DC - The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the captain of Colgan Air flight 3407 inappropriately responded to the activation of the stick shaker, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which the airplane did not recover. In a report adopted in a public Board meeting in Washington, additional flight crew failures were noted as causal to the accident.

The reason the pilot "inappropriately responded" to the stick shaker *an auto-pilot stall warning/correction device* was because he had no training with this important safety feature. NONE!

First Officer Rebecca Shaw also complained about poor treatment by Colgan Air Inc. of Manassas, Va., which operated the flight for Continental Airlines, and about how little she was paid. Shaw said she earned only $15,800 the previous year and the airline was refusing to give her $200 in back pay she felt she was owed.

Your co-pilot makes about as much as the person serving up your fries at McDonalds. And for most of these regional carriers, if they don't fly due to bad weather or maintenace issues, the crew doesn't get paid. You think that might influence their judgement a bit?

So, you feeling lucky on that next vacation or business trip? Better take the train...

[Centurion1]

after 9/11 pilots wages dropped ridiculously low. My friends fathers flys for southwest, thankfully his mother is a dentist though i thik the man does it for pure enjoyment of flying.

[Beskar]

Flying is popular in the UK, because we live on an Island. Though France is the only country Brits go by car, and generally because of cheaper booze as well.

[Centurion1]

its popular in the us too. because well yah know we are a rather wide country.

[Husar]

Ted Stryker.

If that sort of pay is universal for pilots in the US, trains might earn their rightful place back.

[Ironside]

Ted Stryker.

If that sort of pay is universal for pilots in the US, trains might earn their rightful place back.

Not until people catch on that those cheap fly tickets may cause severe cases of death.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Your co-pilot makes about as much as the person serving up your fries at McDonalds. And for most of these regional carriers, if they don't fly due to bad weather or maintenace issues, the crew doesn't get paid. You think that might influence their judgement a bit?

So, you feeling lucky on that next vacation or business trip? Better take the train...

Wow, I had no idea wages got that low.

CR

[drone]

Ted Stryker.

I don't think he's over Macho Grande. Captain Oveur is flying the plane.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Where is you libertarian heaven, CR? See what happens when the gov't has no control over wages, even in a society with minimum wage and all those 'unnecessary' and 'burdening' controls? What woudl happen if there was no minimum wage, right on top of this? Would they hire Mexican immigrants still wet from Rio Grande? The companies do not carry on in good faith, but walk as close to the edge of the moral/legal/practical boundaries as it is possible. But as we can see, such precarious stances lead to 'unfortunate occurrences' to put it in an understatement.



But seriously, are the wages that low? They cannot be lower than $50,000, can they? But the article says so...

[Centurion1]

But seriously, are the wages that low? They cannot be lower than $50,000, can they? But the article says so...

thatys a co pilot not a captain. my friends dad makes about 75-80k probably and hes been in for quite a few years. he did take a hit most likely after retiring a commander from the navy which is somewhat uncommon where i live.