There's an interesting link to an article on Bloomberg in
this tread about
Gulfstream Airlines which has some eerie similarities to what has also been going on in aviation on this side of the Big Pond; heavily indebted pilots through pay-for-flying schemes living on minimum wage, thus allowing more managerial leverage to pushing the commercial envelop, pilots sleeping in cars/crash pads displaced from families through long commutes and the redefining of limits to targets.
The only thing of which we've been spared in Europe so far (thank God!) are fatal accidents, although a certain Irish airline certainly had it's share of 'interesting experiences.'
Is there a pattern here? Is this the future of aviation, or are we different from Americans, where EU companies are continually able to squeeze more and more out of their employees whilst maintaining the same (or perhaps even better?) level of safety?
It would be interesting to see what kind of opinion (if they even have one!) European regulators have about these pay-for-flying schemes, the interweaving (although through different commercial entities) of training with commercial flying, and it's potential impact on safety...
