Originally Posted by
cactusbusdrvr
VAPilot, you are on the right track. What is needed in This industry is what we had at America West - a long term disability program that allowed pilots with a medical issue to have the time off to get themselves taken care of without losing their place on the seniority list or suffering a total loss of income.
We had pilots with a wide variety of issues from substance abuse to heart conditions able to go out on medical leave at 60% of their income. Long term disability kicked in 3 months after the initial short term period. There was no sick leave used in the process, if you had a condition that kept you out longer than 3 months you were placed in the program. Some guys never did get their medical back, they were able to stay on disability until social security retirement age. It was an industry leading benefit, one we fought hard to retain. I know for a fact that guys that may have hid an issue were proactive in getting help becaiuse of this program. I worked on the Aeromedical committee for ALPA when we had that union on the property.
Unfortunately we have lost that benefit in the merger with American. I personally think that this is short sighted on the part of the present union, APA, and the company. Guys that don't have sick bank, which is about 40 percent of the combined pilot group, will not have the money coming in if they have a significant issue. That is disincentive to getting help. We should encourage proactive health fitness, not hinder it.
We self certify our fitness to fly every leg, it's an ACARS entry we make before each flight. The burden is on the pilot to be honest and truthful. The system cannot operate any other way, it is too burdensome to check every pilot every leg. And it would be stupid to do so. This is not a common problem. 99.9 % of us just do our jobs safely and quietly every day. We have a bigger threat from weather and fatigue than we do from mental instability.
All very interesting Cactus and I agree with your thinking. What a great outfit America West must have been. You and your group were incredibly wise to fight for pilot benefit packages and policies that were humane and sane - particularly in light of what's happened here. This is exactly the kind of progressive thinking that is needed today and I see it as the only sensible way forward.
If we're lucky, at the next board meetings of the US majors, there will be news from the boys in accounting of a cost-benefit study favoring such a plan. It may take some regulatory prodding to fully get there, but once they factor in the costs of what the Germanwings FO had (allegedly) incurred upon the parent, Lufthansa, there should be plenty of black ink to convince the board of the *cough* 'right way' forward.
It would be ironic if AMR Corp, now American Airlines Group, led the way domestically. I believe we all know which airline
should be out in front in Europe on this.