CBC Fatigue programme

[4Greens]

Anyone see this programme? It is to be followed by another one on SMS.

[dhc2widow]

CBC News - Canada - Pilot fatigue raised in Canadian crashes (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/25/pilot-fatigue025.html)

With links to video, audio, fatigue studies, etc.

[Carrier]

Quote: "Pilots at larger airlines typically have better working conditions, but they are not immune to the problem of fatigue either, since they have long-haul flights and travel through multiple time zones."

Most professional pilots in Canada do not traverse time zones (plural) during their normal duties. The fundamental problem is not the current flight/duty hours limitations imposed by Transport Canada. It is their poor pay, along with abusive working conditions.

The vast majority of professional pilots who are not airline pilots and those at the bottom of the list in the airlines face a far worse problem than their TC duty limitations. Their pay is so poor that they have to take second jobs just to get by. This happens with airlines in the USA as evidenced by the situation of the Continental/Colgan Air pilots who crashed at Buffalo. It also happens in Canada. Just look at the starting pay for both Captains and F/Os at Central Mountain Air and similar airlines. How can anyone afford a reasonable basic apartment or house and support a family on that in Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver? Then add in for paying off their training loans and running a car.

Postmen, bus drivers, prison guards, customs officers, many truckers and police all have starting salaries that are considerably higher than that of an experienced Captain on a 19 pax commuter airliner. Those are starting salaries whereas the pilot would only become a Captain on a commuter airliner after several years of experience and moving up (?) the aviation food chain. Look at the differences in training and experience requirements, student loan costs and responsibility. Is something wrong?

Many professional pilots working for non-airline operators have to live ten to an apartment and sleep on the floor to get by. They struggle to keep their clunker cars working in order to be able to get to work, because there is inadequate or no 24 hour/day public transport to most airports. How will cutting their flight duty days by a couple of hours solve the inadequate pay problem?

As long as professional pilots are paid so poorly they will continue to need second jobs and be forced to live in conditions that are not conducive to good rest. They will have to continue to fly while tired and the travelling public will continue to be at risk.

Then there are the other conditions referred to in these threads: AVCANADA • View topic - Who should really be responsible? (http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=63140) and AVCANADA • View topic - Saying No (http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=63294) Tinkering with just the TC daily hours limit would be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

[4Greens]

It is amazing how little response there has been to this thread. Is fatigue not a problem in Canada?

[rigpiggy]

No just most of us post here

AVCANADA • View topic - CBC Does Pilot Fatigue: March 24- 26 (http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=63274&start=50)

69 responses and counting

[4Greens]

Suggest more of you post on PPrune as it has a worldwide audience and many countries have similar fatigue issues. We can learn from each other.