The priorities pounded into all WJ pilots from day one are safety, comfort, efficiency - in that order. This is emphasised in initial and recurrent training, regular communications from Flight OPs management and standards guys, winter ops reviews etc. In six years at the company, I have not talked to or heard of one captain who would depart knowing there was critical surface contamination. I personally have never seen or heard one communication in any form from management suggesting that safety be compromised for cost. I have heard many Captains here including ex KLM, Cathay, AC, C3, and TC state that our culture of safety is better than most.
As captains we are all faced with daily risk management decisions that are sometimes complex and require a balance between safety, regulations, guest comfort, and the bottom line. We do the very best we can and still mistakes are occasionally made; one hopes that the systems,people, and SOPs, in place will prevent a mistake from becoming an incident or accident. Personaly I am proud of the caliber of professional aviators in Canada - including those at other carriers.
Regarding Mr. Tan's comments regarding other qualified personnel - our FOM is actually somewhat similar to his in that a trained and qualified person (in most cases a line maintenance person) has the authority to insist on deicing and in the event of a disagreement with the Captain, the aircraft SHALL be deiced.
Regarding the crew in this specific incident - I will not pass judgement yet. Knowing our VP FliteOPs, Chief Pilot, and Director of Flight Safety I have no doubt that if there is any substance to the allegations by Mr Anonymous the incident will be investigated fully and completely.
In closing - is it possible that at sometime or place has a WJ aircraft has departed with surface contamination - sure, as with any other airline - but it is NOT a reflection on the overall attitudes and values of our flight crews.
Last edited by duster1; 2nd February 2006 at 05:03.