My point is that since the AF447 flight crew according to the BEA report did not ask for nor did they receive SIGMET updates by ACARS, they were disadvantaged in their awareness.
You are adressing a very valid issue here. More than often have I been the only one on board to worry about the sigmet's follow up. That isn't part of the compagny culture, although a recent document coming straight from the 777 chief pilot reminded everyone that it should be done.
Borges
I like the way you talk, you certainly don't mince your words.
The main reason why we don't get the exact aircraft's position more than every 10 minutes is because Pilot's unions are totally opposed to it. They are even allowed to disconnect the system if they feel like it. I know, we are in cloud cookoo land but it's the sad truth.
Why is that ?? Because pilots are scared management might be spying on them which is totally crazy. In short, it means that the owner of a 250 Mill $ aircraft isn't allowed to know his aircraft's exact positionwhen every truck owner in France knows exactly where his vehicule is.
Every 10 minutes means 80 NM and you will easily realize how so much more difficult it made the search and rescue operation.
TXL
You are right, a lot could be said about the compagny safety culture. To say there isn't any would be harsh but the smugness displayed by some crews is a fact and nothing is done about it.
Why is it so ?? Mainly because the upper levels of the compagny were so busy making Air France the major it's become, they didn't want Flight Op's and their very volatile pilots to rock the boat. For the last 15 years, the moto has been " Do not rock the boat and keep the pilots happy". Strike means losing customers hence losing money etc........... So, in essence we all were very happy. Compagny growing, fast and easy promotions, apple pie !!
No matter how compassionate or caring Mr Spinetta is, the sad fact remains that the words " accountable " and " responsability " have lost all meaning in the last 10 years.
What good does it do to have an audit producing the famous " Collin report " if the management and the pilots think they can go cherry picking and take what they like and leave the rest..........mainly the hurting bit.
Between 1969 and 1988 Air France didn't have any accident. Between 1988 et 2009 there's been 7 crashes. 2 frames were repaired, hence not appearing in the official statistics.
Between 1988 and 2009, Air France merged with 2 other airlines, both with their own very strong culture. At the same time the compagny grew so fast that it could barely find the pilots it needed and became therefore a lot less choosy than in the past. Bad choice.
There are however some outstanding blokes and of course, you never hear about them. These guys are totally pissed off right now and hope for some change while ploughing through. I am not holding my breath. I'm not talking about seeing the Flight Op's Vice president's head roll in the sand, what difference would it make ?? None !! As long as Mr Gourgeon doesn't decide to put his foot down and let the managers .............er............manage, we can just sit tight and wait for the next one to happen.
To be at the level of KLM or Cathay Pacific, we will need to be accident free for the next...............34 years !!! I find this a rather daunting task, given the circumstances.