a330pilotcanada
13th May 2011, 16:44
Good Afternoon All:
I can not take credit for this as it comes from a posting from AvCanada on the current Air Canada/A.C.P.A. negotiations.
Who ever wrote it wrote well and this can most likely be applied to any other airline in the world.
My name is nobody. I am a pilot. I have one voice.
I report for flight duty and deliver my air plane full of passengers to their destination and 99.99% of the time they never give the experience a second thought. They walk into the arms of their loved ones or shake hands with their colleagues and continue on with their day. Never will they know about the thousand obstacles that got in their way of a safe arrival. Not one thought will be given to the challenges of a winter day operation where I am their last defence against an army of environmental, mechanical and corporate pressures placed on us.
Another uneventful flight, perfect. Perfect, except for the fact that we have done such an outstanding job of keeping our passengers safe that we have created a mindset among most that what we do is just ordinary. It is the furthest thing from ordinary, in fact it can be down right dangerous. Thankfully we have rules, regulations and laws that we as pilots use as tools in defence against these dangers and challenges. When these rule and regulations are not enough we use our years of experience and judgement. We are bright, intelligent people. We have among our ranks lawyers, Doctors, PhD's, university graduates, accountants. We have College diploma's, we are men and women who are dedicated to continuous learning, testing, and advancing our knowledge of our profession like no other profession around.
Yet we are willing to sell ourselves short. Discounting the importance of what it is we actually do for a living. We go as far as trying to save the day by sacrificing our own financial compensation and working conditions. We are continually being asked to do more and receive less, asked to work to the boundary's of antiquated flight and duty time regulations.
Just as I refuse to sacrifice the safety of my passengers. I now refuse to sacrifice my profession, compensation or working conditions. I refuse because my profession is under attack. The attack is coming from the airline management and executives who seem to be the first ones to have forgotten what it is we actually do for the business and industry. That is deliver our customers to their destination with safety as our top priority. Its not about dollars or schedule, but safety.
We are being asked by our airline executives and our own Negotiating committee to allow our fellow pilots to fly to the extremes of the Canadian Air Regulations. Regulations that have some of the worst flight and duty time rules in the world. Imagine as a customer getting on an air plane where the pilots will have been on duty for over 14 hours by the time he lands at destination in some of the most challenging flying environments in the world.
They would be appalled. If they knew they would also support our challenge to have these rules updated. They would demand it.
How quick are we to forget the tragedies of the past. The unfortunate souls of the recent Colgan Airlines crash in Buffalo where the Captain and First officer were so poorly compensated they couldn't afford to live in their own base, or afford a hotel room. If their passengers could have known before they boarded that flight they would have demanded changes. They would have demanded the crew receive training on stall recognition. These pilots where squeezed to the breaking limit, and break they did.
We, as well are being squeezed a little more each time we enter negotiations or each time there is a financial crisis in our industry. When do we say NO. Just like we say no when conditions are outside of our comfort zone or operations manuals we need to know when enough is enough. We have in our ranks pilots making less than flight attendants, ramp attendants, ticket agents and many more. We must demand fair compensation and safe work rules so that we can protect our profession and our passengers. We must demand respect for the service we provide.
For over 75 years our predecessors have fought to maintain the respect our profession deserves. They fought hard, and took a stand. Are we the ones to give it away?
Give ACPA a strong mandate to stand up for our profession. Your passengers will thank you.
My name is nobody. I am a pilot and I have a voice. Together we are 3000 voices strong, lets make it heard.
I can not take credit for this as it comes from a posting from AvCanada on the current Air Canada/A.C.P.A. negotiations.
Who ever wrote it wrote well and this can most likely be applied to any other airline in the world.
My name is nobody. I am a pilot. I have one voice.
I report for flight duty and deliver my air plane full of passengers to their destination and 99.99% of the time they never give the experience a second thought. They walk into the arms of their loved ones or shake hands with their colleagues and continue on with their day. Never will they know about the thousand obstacles that got in their way of a safe arrival. Not one thought will be given to the challenges of a winter day operation where I am their last defence against an army of environmental, mechanical and corporate pressures placed on us.
Another uneventful flight, perfect. Perfect, except for the fact that we have done such an outstanding job of keeping our passengers safe that we have created a mindset among most that what we do is just ordinary. It is the furthest thing from ordinary, in fact it can be down right dangerous. Thankfully we have rules, regulations and laws that we as pilots use as tools in defence against these dangers and challenges. When these rule and regulations are not enough we use our years of experience and judgement. We are bright, intelligent people. We have among our ranks lawyers, Doctors, PhD's, university graduates, accountants. We have College diploma's, we are men and women who are dedicated to continuous learning, testing, and advancing our knowledge of our profession like no other profession around.
Yet we are willing to sell ourselves short. Discounting the importance of what it is we actually do for a living. We go as far as trying to save the day by sacrificing our own financial compensation and working conditions. We are continually being asked to do more and receive less, asked to work to the boundary's of antiquated flight and duty time regulations.
Just as I refuse to sacrifice the safety of my passengers. I now refuse to sacrifice my profession, compensation or working conditions. I refuse because my profession is under attack. The attack is coming from the airline management and executives who seem to be the first ones to have forgotten what it is we actually do for the business and industry. That is deliver our customers to their destination with safety as our top priority. Its not about dollars or schedule, but safety.
We are being asked by our airline executives and our own Negotiating committee to allow our fellow pilots to fly to the extremes of the Canadian Air Regulations. Regulations that have some of the worst flight and duty time rules in the world. Imagine as a customer getting on an air plane where the pilots will have been on duty for over 14 hours by the time he lands at destination in some of the most challenging flying environments in the world.
They would be appalled. If they knew they would also support our challenge to have these rules updated. They would demand it.
How quick are we to forget the tragedies of the past. The unfortunate souls of the recent Colgan Airlines crash in Buffalo where the Captain and First officer were so poorly compensated they couldn't afford to live in their own base, or afford a hotel room. If their passengers could have known before they boarded that flight they would have demanded changes. They would have demanded the crew receive training on stall recognition. These pilots where squeezed to the breaking limit, and break they did.
We, as well are being squeezed a little more each time we enter negotiations or each time there is a financial crisis in our industry. When do we say NO. Just like we say no when conditions are outside of our comfort zone or operations manuals we need to know when enough is enough. We have in our ranks pilots making less than flight attendants, ramp attendants, ticket agents and many more. We must demand fair compensation and safe work rules so that we can protect our profession and our passengers. We must demand respect for the service we provide.
For over 75 years our predecessors have fought to maintain the respect our profession deserves. They fought hard, and took a stand. Are we the ones to give it away?
Give ACPA a strong mandate to stand up for our profession. Your passengers will thank you.
My name is nobody. I am a pilot and I have a voice. Together we are 3000 voices strong, lets make it heard.