Why do folks get themselves so wound up ? How many times have we been bombarded with BS about things just down the road which are going to make life so much better ? How many platitudes have we heard about pie in the sky systems destined to cure all that ails us ? How many working groups have been formed to fix problems that never seem to get fixed ?
So when it goes the OTHER way why do we all of a sudden start believing it ?
Point being if I see a source that hasn't proven itself credible through actions rather than words, I tend to wait for the actions to start happening before I believe ANY of the words coming from the source. Good or bad.
I do think from the tone there is genuine fear and concern on the part of the company but that's about all I get from it. Then again the situation is totally predictable (and at least somewhat avoidable)--they have been breaking their train set through their own actions--exacerbating an already difficult manning situation. Run an engine above redline, slam the throttles around, and alternate between idle and max repeatedly and incoherently--against the advice of someone who knows something about the engine you've got -- and it's going to break. You might get a sudden burst of speed, but you'll lose the race in the long run. Passing an opponent doesn't mean much when there's smoke coming from under the hood and there's still miles to go. I guess you can ignore the smoke for awhile, or write a whole bunch of rules saying that the smoke is the fault of someone else like the mechanic, but you'll get to the point where you press on the go pedal and it don't go anymore.
Rather than the panadol of an AMP, imagine if the same efforts were targeted toward the penicillin of a best fit solution to unstable rosters/continuous body clock swaps, "owned" rosters, having a work environment where people WANT to join, WANT to be part of the team, and WANT to stay, win-win fixes, and usable forms of long call reserve (or whatever you want to call it). Actually try to cure the disease of breaking the toys through fatigue related illnesses rather than try to patch the symptom, ignore the issues, and hope things get better. Pilots are problem solvers and WANT to make things work. But when no good deed goes unpunished this becomes pretty hard to do.
Maybe there really IS a problem with putting a non-operator at the throttle. At least if the non-operator is hard of hearing.
The solutions are out there (at least ones which can make the best of things with the assets we have). All's it takes is someone to listen and come to the realization in aviation trying to get by on the cheap usually ends up costing you ALOT more in the long run. Do the right and prudent things and things usually turn out well.
So, if the news bothers you, turn off the channel or watch something else. Turn it back on when it starts making sense and having something worth listening too. And keep on keeping on--taking care of yourself and your family. If someone's dead set on blowing an engine, let them blow THEIR engine and not yours.
Last edited by Shep69; 22nd Apr 2016 at 14:42.