Future thoughs and Fling Cheap.

To start off todays blog, what an eye opener "Flying Cheap" is. I understood that the regionals were bad when it came to salaries, and worker hours, but I didn't know the extent of it until seeing this, and it makes me re-consider many things about how the aviation industry really works.

Getting back to that later, I have two jobs that I would be interested in. The first one is business jets. Its an area that is completely different from the majors, with no set schedule, the opportunity to fly some awesome business jets, and the possibility to see many different locations including overseas. That being said, because of how many companies actually operate business jets, its too hard to focus on just one, and because there are individuals that have their own private jets, the options can be endless. That is why I will focus on the second job, which would be cargo operations, specifically a captain at Fed Ex. https://fedex.pilotcredentials.com/index.php?a=qualifications

A captain at Fed Ex seems like it would entail flying the daylight hours, while the less senior pilots would get the night hours. That's all that I was able to find without digging too deep. I think it goes without saying who Fed Ex is.

Fed Ex is a hard job to get into. It requires over 1,000 hours in large jets or turboprops alone, along with the basic ATP license. Most of the hours would be at different times of the day as well, but I think it has a couple things going for it. The pay is just as good, sometimes better then the majors, the aircraft are older types, which may seem odd but the chance to fly an MD-11 is just too hard to pass up, and lastly would be that cargo doesn't talk back if a landing is rough.

There are risks to flying cargo however. Most of it will probably be at night until you move up. While this isn't inherently dangerous, it still upsets a humans Circadian rhythm, which is basically the bodies natural rhythm for rest. Because of this, fatigue can set in much sooner then flying a day shift. The second risk I can see, and have found a little bit on aviation forums is the possibility that the crew will either take more risks, as they are only risking their own lives. The third risk I can see is that the FAA has yet to mandate the current fatigue rules from the majors over to cargo. While cargo pilots may just be flying boxes around, that doesn't mean the pilots aren't flying basically the same aircraft in the same environments, including crowded airports.

To switch gears now back towards "Flying Cheap", lets talk about professionalism. I define professionalism as somebody who acts with the upmost respect towards either their co-workers or their customers, as somebody who knows their industry inside and out and who can accept valid input from others.

To point this out, its quite obvious to the entire audience that Roger Cohen is about as unprofessional as anybody could be. When there is concrete proof that pilots were paid below poverty wages at Colgan, he starts to state averages instead of addressing the issue. Its clear that he either does not care one bit about the people that work for him, or he is completely oblivious to the issues that are presented. The second would certainly be the captain that altered his co-pilots weight data sheet to reflect an incorrect weight so that the aircraft could fly. Regardless of how late an aircraft can run, the safety of all involved in a flight should not come down to a single captain deciding he is above the regulations and rules, and the fact that he got absolutely no punishment for this act is beyond wrong.

To end on that note, there are two things I would do to stay professional in aviation. The first is that ones self integrity is of up most importance. This involves making decisions that not only reflect on you but on the fraternity of pilots around you. As pointed out, the captain who lied about the weight data is an example of somebody who has lost their integrity, and as a result makes pilots around the world look extremely stupid. The second is listening to those around you. You never know in the future when you may be somebodies boss, or that they may be yours. If you choose to ignore others valid input, there is the chance that either they ignore yours when they are above you, or you ignoring something important that could lead to major consequences, especially in this industry.