Originally Posted by
Fire and brimstone
I take exception to the claim pilots bring this on themselves.
Do you mean some pilots bring this on the industry?
The Captain in question did nothing to bring these events on himself - he made his employer aware of a safety risk, and then did the right thing, under immense pressure from the operator.
He was let down by his fellow pilots at that airline who mainly don't stand up for themselves, and then - to a degree - by his union.
I wonder how many of his fellows phoned up the union to insist they help him?
Dozens? Hundreds? Probably count them on the fingers of one hand.
There are good guys out there who do the right thing, but after events like this, there are probably less of them - not more.
Thats why I said the 'Pilots have brought this on themselves' I bet there was not one who rang BALPA. I bet there were plenty who said 'thats wrong, oh look another day off payment.' Company view, would be be 'ruin his career and no one will 'do the right thing' and therefore we will have compliant pilots who will operate via bending and snapping the rules ...(for rules read law).
As for the regulators, I bet if this case was looked into it would confirm what most of us already know.
Pilots have brought and will continue to bring this on themselves until we all have the willingness to operate 'professionally' at all times and not be bullied into operating illegally and fall for the 'but there is no one else available' sob story.