"Flying Cheap" on PBS Frontline

[PromoTheRobot]

Show website.

 

Some scary stuff, especially if you fly on regional carriers like Colgan. Then again maybe you don't realize you are. I know many here feel like there's already too much government intrusion but the FAA is complicit in this. Who is the public supposed to rely on to be sure safety standards are reasonable and followed?

 

PTR

[The Avenger]

I watched that last night and it was scary. I knew the regional carriers paid their pilots terribly, but $16K a year? Don't you make more at McDonalds without the long hours and fatigue? The problem is that flying is something so many people want to do, and if you ever want to have a shot at being a 747 captain making $300K+ a year you have to start somewhere, so the industry can really really make it tough for those on the bottom rung of the ladder. But the flying public pays in accidents like this because when all is said and done nobody is solely entrusted with their well being - if you think that's the FAA's job you're crazy. Make no mistake about it, to the FAA losing a few hundred lives every few years is an acceptable price to pay when it would cost billions to actually address the real issues.

[PromoTheRobot]

I watched that last night and it was scary. I knew the regional carriers paid their pilots terribly, but $16K a year? Don't you make more at McDonalds without the long hours and fatigue? The problem is that flying is something so many people want to do, and if you ever want to have a shot at being a 747 captain making $300K+ a year you have to start somewhere, so the industry can really really make it tough for those on the bottom rung of the ladder. But the flying public pays in accidents like this because when all is said and done nobody is solely entrusted with their well being - if you think that's the FAA's job you're crazy. Make no mistake about it, to the FAA losing a few hundred lives every few years is an acceptable price to pay when it would cost billions to actually address the real issues.

I think there is an unspoken ratio of acceptable fatalities. You fly a billion people a year and 50 get killed. Do you ratchet up everyone's cost or doing business because of it? To be clear the reason 3407 went down is because the Captain 'effed up. Apparently he had a less-than-stellar performance record, but it was suggested Colgan didn't know or bothered to check.

 

I will never fly a regional. Pay close attention when you book on USair, Delta or Continental. There's usually a fine print disclosure that a flight is on a regional carrier. I fly to Buffalo often and I'd rather not fly with a noob. Buffalo has a rep among pilots as a tough airport to fly to because of the lake winds.

 

PTR

[KD in CA]

Make no mistake about it, to the FAA losing a few hundred lives every few years is an acceptable price to pay when it would cost billions to actually address the real issues.

 

Without question. In fact, we could see one or more of these Colgan-type crashes every year and nothing would change.

 

Which reminds me, what has been done to reduce bird strikes since the Capt. Sully USAir incident? Oh yeah, nothing. Bird strikes are on the rise.

[PromoTheRobot]

Without question. In fact, we could see one or more of these Colgan-type crashes every year and nothing would change.

 

Which reminds me, what has been done to reduce bird strikes since the Capt. Sully USAir incident? Oh yeah, nothing. Bird strikes are on the rise.

Well what can you do? They're birds.

 

PTR

[KD in CA]

Well what can you do? They're birds.

 

PTR

 

There are lots of things you can do. For instance, you can decide to not designate a huge area at the foot of Kennedy Airport as a bird sanctuary.

 

Ask the USAF. They put a lot of effort into designing ways to prevent birds from destroying $30MM airplanes.

[Just Jack]

I watched that last night and it was scary. I knew the regional carriers paid their pilots terribly, but $16K a year? Don't you make more at McDonalds without the long hours and fatigue?

Miminum wage at $7.25, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, works out to $15080/year.

[Assquatch]

Well what can you do? They're birds.

 

PTR

Why don't they do whatever it is they do to get the deer to cross the road at those little yellow signs?

[PromoTheRobot]

There are lots of things you can do. For instance, you can decide to not designate a huge area at the foot of Kennedy Airport as a bird sanctuary.

 

Ask the USAF. They put a lot of effort into designing ways to prevent birds from destroying $30MM airplanes.

 

But US Air Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia.

 

PTR

[KD in CA]

But US Air Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia.

 

PTR

 

Yeah, because a bird strike has never happened anywhere except LGA.

 

Sorry to confuse you by offering an example of something that could be done at one of the busiest airports in the world.

[Lt. Dan's Revenge]

Thanks for the link, Promo. That was a really interesting program. I hope the families of the victims can keep fighting these airlines and get more safety standards passed.