Tag Archives for pilots.
Pilot unions will fight against continued loss in jobs, and very few would push the button today to go from two to one human in the cockpit. But the technology will arrive that will make travel much safer replacing a human at least as co-pilot. And at that point pilot unions will be clearly lobbying against safety.
Following the recent Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 incident, the NTSB determined that the cockpit voice recorder, in place to help review aviation incidents and make flying safer, had already been recorded over. Two hours of recording time isn’t enough when it takes awhile to recover a ‘black box’. But pilot unions say their members’ privacy trumps safety.
Last month conservative commentator Ashley St. Clair launched a firestorm over commercial airlines transporting undocumented immigrations. It was an odd criticism of Biden administration immigration policy when at a time when flying and busing migrants has also been the policy of some Republican governors.
Now Ms. Sinclair has turned her attention to United Airlines pilot hiring practices.
Under the new American Airlines pilot contract, for the first time, deadheading pilots receive upgrades ahead of customers to available first class seats at the gate. Officially, in American Airlines computer systems, these pilots are coded with a higher priority even than top status Executive Platinum and even Concierge Key members. AA: "Did know if you saw this but effective today, AA Deadheading pilots traveling under A1DP/A3DP status will now go on the upgrade list as a UPG0, ahead of CK and EP Something about their ratified contract" — JonNYC (@xJonNYC) December 1, 2023 Unsold first class seats now go to employees who are not piloting an aircraft between segments on a trip they’re working. That’s different than commuting to and from their base if they live in a different city than where they’re assigned…
FedEx pilot crews have been told that – despite the national pilot shortage – they are overstaffed, because air cargo demand is down. Pilots are receiving minimum hours only, for the most part, and they expect that to remain “for the foreseeable future.” This is an industry-wide issue.
As a result, the shipping company is telling its pilots to go work for American Airlines through one of their regional airlines.
Two American Eagle regional pilots were caught by a boarding passenger watching cartoons prior to flight. The captain and co-pilot of the Bombardier regional jet flying for American Airlines’ wholly-owned regional airline PSA didn’t instill passenger confidence, but the flight wound up… fine?
American Airlines will no longer allow anyone with a beard or goatee to occupy a jumpseat in the cockpit on a mainline aircraft, citing risk that in the event oxygen masks are needed that facial hair will interfere with full flow of oxygen.
The highest paid jobs in the country are doctors, CEOs, and commercial airline pilots. And that was before the recent round of raises in new pilot contracts at Delta, American and United.
Yet despite the attractions of the profession, there aren’t nearly enough pilots. And that’s a safety risk.
The FAA is investigating approximately 4,800 U.S. pilots for “falsifying their medical records to conceal…mental health disorders and other serious conditions that could make them unfit to fly.” Around 600 hold commercial airline pilot licenses, while the rest fly cargo, private, and other aircraft.
The federal government is considering banning air carrier operations that diverge from the model of American Airlines, United, and Delta in order to operate niche service from small cities and private terminals. And the only reason they’re doing this is as a concession to lobbying by unions and an incumbent airline – groups that don’t want to compete with more pilots and innovative business models.
The FAA is considering requiring carriers currently operating as scheduled charters to instead operate as scheduled air carriers, effectively putting upstarts out of business. The loudest lobbying voice with the ear of the powerful wins?
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
