Aviation managers can tell pilots 'don't fly fatigued' until they are blue in the face and yet at the same time they spend their efforts lobbying for regulation framework and structures that endeavour to extract 'maximum efficiency' (one could also read that as 'burn them out'). For all this effort, when something goes wrong, essentially they get to wash their hands of innocent blood (like Pilate of old) and walk away...
Yes and I would argue this is by design.
Pilots play their role in this as
enablers. They do not understand strict liability and I can recall numerous excuses from loss of income, it will encroach on a day off to impact on sick leave to continue. They refuse to acknowledge, or simply are not aware that in keeping the
show on the road, they bear the risk. This is precisely why the statute stipulates strict liability.
As Ryan air executives stated
" The idea was to recruit a vibrant start-up team, burn them out, then get rid of them and put in a fresh team"
Mr Joyce said largely the same thing to an audience in the Stamford hotel circa 2004, when queried about staffing including pilots when appointed to JQ management by Geoff Dixon.
Where 'efficiency is maximised' destroying and burning out human capital, then clearly the Regulator must regulate. In Australia this will not occur until such time as the trail of bodies necessitates more action than talk.