ANR Headsets and "Hot Mic" combo
Hearing protection for pilots has been an ongoing debate for a long time. Talk to anyone who has flown Boeing 707/727/737 aircraft for 20 years or more and you'll most likely be talking to a person with significant hearing loss! Recently, I came across an article about this subject in the PHX crew lounge. It stated that OSHA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, specifically exempts itself from this area (airline cockpits) and will not write regulations for mandatory hearing protection as they do for other work places. Sounds like the ATA (Airline Transport Assn) may have done some serious lobbying to be granted this exemption.
Having said that, it would seem incumbent on the airlines to make an effort to protect their pilots. I was at Oshkosh this year and talked to the Sennheiser guys. They said that Boeing makes a switch for the yoke or comm panel that will make "HOT MIC" available without using rubber bands. It is available but Southwest just won't buy it. How much could it cost to protect the hearing of the best pilots in the US airline industry?
How many of you out there, when lying down in a quiet room, can hear a ringing or pinging sound that can vary in pitch or type of sound? (Rushing, roaring hash, pinging, etc.) Or, how many of you are being told by your spousal unit to turn down the TV? How many of you think to yourself about how people seem to mumble more these days and can't enunciate well. Most of us have a measurable high frequency loss which makes many words sound like mumbling because we don't hear the entire word, just the low and medium frequencies. These are all signs of hearing loss.
There are some great new headsets out there on the market when combined with the switch that Boeing makes could eliminate hearing loss from this job. Now, does the company care enough about us to at least help us state a goal and meet the financial aspects of that goal? If SWA would just fund the switch installation and let us choose and buy the headset we prefer it would be a giant gesture of goodwill. Later, after further study, the company, along with the pilots, could decide on the best headset for our operation and negotiate a low price that should be paid for by the company but could be shared in the beginning to get the ball rolling.
I have had regular hearing tests done and have kept them in graphic form. If enough pilots do the same then perhaps some day a class action lawsuit could be brought to all the airlines stating that while the technology existed to have saved the hearing of their pilots, these airlines kept silent and did nothing. It would be far less expensive for airlines to provide hearing protection for pilots than to pay for expensive digital hearing aids and damages payments for loss of the ability to enjoy life as others do who weren’t harmed by their workplace and management policies.
I have paid for my own headset even though I would have preferred the company to do so. Now, I really enjoy the noise levels I get when my FO has an ANR headset as well. These headsets also have noise canceling mics so the level of "hiss" is quite low when the hot mic is in use. When an FO is using only a Plantronics earpiece it helps him hear the hot mic but it makes my hearing less than desirable because the Plantronics mic is not very noise canceling, but still better than going without. When two Sennheiser units are used together with "HOT MIC" it is like conversing with your FO in a living room. It's GREAT!
Tori: