tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10991135.post6180331957145828000..comments2024-03-12T02:26:36.345-05:00Comments on Taking Wing: Are the Regional Airlines Safe?Sam Weigelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06332414897030323612noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10991135.post-3032453534501546452009-05-13T23:06:00.000-05:002009-05-13T23:06:00.000-05:00Unfortunately, the people who are the most "horrif...Unfortunately, the people who are the most "horrified" by these revelations are the same one who don't want to pay an extra 10 bucks for their ticket to Atlanta.<br /><br />Either way we slice it, there are two real forces at work here, both motivated by the same thing: greed. Airline executives want to ensure that they still get their multi-million salaries every year, and the average flier doesn't want to pay an extra 20 bucks on their ticket to Orlando for the family's annual trip to Disney World.<br /><br />IF the regionals paid better, then perhaps they would be able to retain a lot more highly experienced pilots, and therefore increase the safety margin, but a lot of people are going to have to sacrifice a little for that to happen, and they just won't.<br /><br />Just to throw some factual numbers out there, as a regional airline pilot, my taxes filed showed a taxable income last year of a little over $25,000, which was up from my previous year, where it was $15,000. I own no home, nor do I have any dependents, so there is no argument about tax write-offs. That said, I love the website Sam, thanks for keeping people informed about what we do every day.<br /><br />Now if you will excuse me, I have a 0430 show. I will be back around 1800 after my 6 legs o'fun.<br /><br />Fly safe.Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10991135.post-81182120382874632832008-09-05T13:50:00.000-05:002008-09-05T13:50:00.000-05:00Just came across this write up... It's excellent! ...Just came across this write up... It's excellent! Thanks for taking the time to write this up!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10991135.post-80949139719002752072007-11-20T05:22:00.000-06:002007-11-20T05:22:00.000-06:00Anon 8:27--You're right, if you look at the air pa...Anon 8:27--<BR/><BR/>You're right, if you look at the <I>air passengers</I> killed by terrorism in 2001, it was still considerably less than those killed in regular crashes in years past. The reason I included the terrorism aside disclaimer is because most air safety statistics exclude it. If you included all the ground fatalities from 9/11 - almost 3000 - it would inflate the fatality rate considerably, and would be somewhat misleading because it should be a representation of the chances of a passenger being killed in a crash - not the chances of someone working in a skyscraper being killed due to political hijacking & murder.Sam Weigelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06332414897030323612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10991135.post-66644294012942761672007-11-19T22:27:00.000-06:002007-11-19T22:27:00.000-06:00Terrorism aside? Terrorism included air travel is...Terrorism aside? Terrorism <I>included</I> air travel is very safe!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10991135.post-1881200370526537392007-11-18T03:36:00.000-06:002007-11-18T03:36:00.000-06:00I work for a regional in Europe on the Barbie Jet ...I work for a regional in Europe on the Barbie Jet - we do pretty much all put maintenance in-house although outsource the really big stuff as it is more cost-effective. Every night the engineers are al over the aeroplanes, we have company engineers at all our bases who often come out on turnaround to check how things are and defects get rectified really quickly. <BR/><BR/>I don't have a problem with outsourcing the heavy stuff (it isn't cost effective for a fleet our size to do it in house so I'm told) as it is done by a very good shop. It would worry me however if the line maintenance was outsourced....our guys really know what they are doing and our dispatch reliability is excellent as a result!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10991135.post-43955833230302937332007-11-17T18:18:00.000-06:002007-11-17T18:18:00.000-06:00With the shortage of qualified and non aged out co...With the shortage of qualified and non aged out controllers, outsourced and out of country maintenance, I'd be very hesitant to fly a regional and in some cases legacies.<BR/> After seeing NewCo's parent strike and the way they treated their mechanics, I wonder how the Legacies are going to be able to continue their practices. <BR/>It might be fatigue over duty hours, but I'd say dollars to donuts that when and if we have a fatal uncontrolled collision with terrain, a huge part will be in the condition of the aircraft parts.<BR/><BR/>Stay safe, bon chance, and have fun burning that kerosene up.<BR/><BR/>amulamulbunny's random thoughtshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10621932038345682056noreply@blogger.com