Article by Simon Calder of the Independent
 

Interesting view of our profession
http://classified.independent.co.uk/...cle2721292.ece
A junior house doctor at the end of a 19-hour-shift, who works in an industry that also deals in matters of life and death, will look enviously at the limit on pilots' hours, which permits only 900 duty hours a year – corresponding to less than two-and-a-half hours a day.

Shame he got it completely wrong :{ .... and there was I thinking the limt was 900 hours flying per year :confused:

The Duty limit to which he refers I think is 2000 by some EU rule, and ~2200 as far as can be determined by CAP 371 ;)

I know I don't get anywhere near the £100k "average" salary

adm100 couldn't agree more - I read the article in the Independent on Sat morning and thought how well researched it must be as I read the bit about us being on an average salary of £100,000 :rolleyes: Next time you see him on your flight, pass a copy of your payslip to him !

One e-mail off to the travel section pointing out the mistakes. I wonder if I'll get a response?

Just sent a snotty email to his webpage:ok:

What a moron, why do the newspapers seem unable to employ anyone with any understanding of anything or capable of doing some proper research? is this bloke a school dropout ?

900 duty hours a year ? £100k AVERAGE ?

what the hell is he spouting about ? there again, who reads the Independant ?

[QUOTE]What a moron, why do the newspapers seem unable to employ anyone with any understanding of anything or capable of doing some proper research? is this bloke a school dropout ?
900 duty hours a year ? £100k AVERAGE ?
[QUOTE]
Is it possible that nice man based in Dublin provided the aviation background to the article :rolleyes:

Ridiculous comparison
 

Duty hour/flying hour ratio on shorthaul night freight can be 5:1 on some operations. The junior doctor gets HOME after his 19hr shift, can eat proper meals and not experience climate/timezone changes. I could go on.

Not so much an article, as an assortment of incoherent ramblings about the inequalities of life that prevent some people from being pilots. Then goes on to describe the manifest shortcomings of said SkyGods, almost as if they were simply just human beings. So when did Simon Calder fail his aircrew selection, or did his wife just run off with a pilot? Newsworthy indeed.

Its better than that:
"Simon's first job was a cleaner for British Airways at Gatwick airport. He later worked as a security guard frisking passengers. It was during the long gaps between flights (this was a while ago) that he began to write budget travel "

From his website

Airport cleaner + security guard + journalist = well qualified to make ill-conceived, inaccurate and incoherent remarks like that. :ugh:

What a fool :*

A formal complaint should be made to the Press Complaints Commission or whatever it is called these days. Can we sue him for slander/libel? BALPA/IPA should pen a suitable reply!

Assuming he treats every other area of travel with the same inaccuracies, then I for one will never bother to listen to the man again ...

Send him a letter. Here's mine:

How ever did such drivel get beyond the wastepaper basket beside your desk? The inaccuracies contained within this article reflect not only upon the already tarnished image of British journalists, but also prove to the public that News--Independent Style--is by definition, any hogwash that can be placed in the white spaces between revenue earning advertisements.

---

The email address is here: http://news.independent.co.uk/article293866.ece

"A junior house doctor at the end of a 19-hour-shift, who works in an industry that also deals in matters of life and death, will look enviously at the limit on pilots' hours, which permits only 900 duty hours a year – corresponding to less than two-and-a-half hours a day."

What a fool.

This one is for you moron.

16.25 hours after reporting for my flying duty, and without any time away from my desk, relaxing in the staff canteen, going for a walk or watching tv in my lunchbreak I can be landing an aircraft in crap weather and winds with you and your family in the back.

As you can see, low cost has done nothing for the safety of air travel.

Go back to cleaning.

Can you see me sneering.....

Simon Calder has always been a complete plonker with his travel writings on all sorts of different subjects. This one is no different.

He probably thinks the cabin crew are there purely to serve the refreshments as well.

Just SLF, but it occurs to me that Junior Doctors generally only have one life in their hands at any given time and are usually well monitored by the nursing staff...

I have personal experience of S Calder and he is a wind up merchant. Case Closed. However, it does serve to highlight the need for a clear and unambiguous position from BALPA.

I could not help noticing that the BATA association, whom so vigorously defended the CAP371, have MK Airlines as a member! They have at least two accidents attributable to tiredness/fatigue! What a joke.:ugh:

Any news on when NEOS will be using Itailian FTL's to fly longhaul ex-LGW for various UK Charter airlines?