New book about Thomas Cook - Pulling Wings from Butterflies

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Really not sure why this has been dumped in this cul-de-sac. Surely it's of greater value to the flying fraternity than a pax climbing out on the wing of an aeroplane isn't it? Shouldn't we be headlining stuff like this or have we become a comic book aviation forum? Really!

[A320 Glider]

Well said Mike!
And guess what.... a fatigued pilot, who is working beyond their legal max hours, crashes an aircraft. Who is to blame? Of course the investigators will blame the pilots!

[NOMANSNEMESIS]

Originally Posted by Wing Commander Fowler

A320 Glider

Well yes they should! Question is will they? The book implies they simply ARE the "types" to hang but NOT their own heads and certainly not in shame. Truly immoral types. Hopefully, books like this will show these people for what they are - scum! The industry is in a spiral dive and it began long before another disease appeared over the horizon this year.......

I worked for this lot from 1998 to 2004.

I left after a very bizarre command upgrade check ride that I didn't agree with.

The management at the time were clearly aggrieved by my resigning without a job to go to.

Much to my surprise I couldn't even get an interview with other airlines with the same type! It rapidly became obvious that the petty and vindictive management of My travel were wrecking my job chances.

To get a new job I had to resort to outmaneuvering the old management by telling old colleagues that I was going to interviews at a specific airline whilst actually going for interview somewhere else.

I was three months in to this other job when they worked out where I was and was called into the office for a most threatening meeting that I can only assume came from contact with the old management.

Nasty vindictive small minded people!

[WillowRun 6-3]

The Karlene Petitt litigation, specifically the Dep't of Labor ALJ decision recently which contained rather negative findings or statements concerning FAA Admin. S. Dickson, is the subject of an article posted today, Dec. 27, on the Wall Street Journal website, written by the Journal's well-known aviation reporter Andy Pasztor. (Administrative Law Judge)

As an SLF/attorney, the case - while not something about which I knew much of anything even after the questions raised in Dickson's Senate confirmation hearings - certainly does appear to connect impactfully with a few important current developing situations in aviation law and policy, and to the extent it is a different subject area, aviation safety. For one thing, the recent FAA reform legislation passed by Congress (but caught up in other national political gamesmanship in Washington) contains significant additional whistleblower protections. Yet, whether the RLA and other federal law protections extend sufficiently to airline aviators could be open to serious question, in light of the ALJ ruling.

Moreover, the concerns voiced and tenaciously advocated for by Ms. Petitt appear to relate to or concern aspects of aviation safety presenting increasingly high significance for the U.S. (and probably, international) civil aviation sector. Despite the pandemic and the global recession or depression in travel. Inasmuch as this SLF/atty hasn't located (or obviously read) the ALJ ruling yet, just one item of the safety concerns at the root of the litigated matter should be commented on further.

"Chronic pilot fatigue" was one safety concern of Ms. Petitt, according to the WSJ news article. This reminds me of a speech or lecture given a few years back by NTSB head Robert Sumwalt. An audience member in the q-&-a asked about whether an accident would need to occur in order to cause reform efforts to advance, with regard to more realistic and enforceable regulations concerning pilot duty limits and rest periods (or words of inquiry to that effect). "We've already had that accident", the Board chairman responded, referencing Colgan Air 3407. Will the ALJ ruling have a similar impact, one can only wonder?

Of course an appeal of the ALJ ruling is reported to be planned by the company. Ah yes, the refined, occasionally rarified air of the practice of law in the United States, where billable hours and boardroom egos collide with . . . whatever happens to be really important - as opposed to just reflections of materialistic frustrations - in a given case at bar.

[WillowRun 6-3]

All 116 pages

For those interested.... the ALJ Decision and Order Granting Relief is located via this link (courtesy of the book website posted earlier in this thread):
PETITT_KARLENE_v_DELTA_AIR_LINES_INC_2018AIR00041__DEC_21_20 20__154529_CADEC_CD.pdf (mcusercontent.com)

Not that it matters too very much but this is indeed a hefty and dense piece of administrative law judge decision-making, reflecting what certainly appears to have been a pitched legal battle up to this point.

One wonders whether this litigation, the issues around which it has revolved or the issues it raises or implicates about the overall civil aviation sector in the U.S. (or, . . . both), will find its way into the anticipated confirmation hearings for the nominee designated by the President-elect as Secretary of Transportation. Your somewhat cynical SLF/atty poster says, were I an attorney staff advisor to any member of the Senate Committee before which the nominee would appear, you can bet your first tube of airplane glue that I would be advocating strongly to press the nominee to see whether he is conversant with either, or both, of the above-referenced relevancy aspects of this litigation.

[Youmightsaythat]

Karlene Petitt vs Delta

Finally, the news begins to break in the UK media about a huge win for Karlene Petitt against Delta. The Judge slammed the head of the FAA Steve Dickson. Her case is virtually the same as mine in that an airline was found to have retaliated against a pilot for raising serious safety concerns. The real concern is that, as in my case, the pilots union refused to support either case. It was only when the situation was taken out of the hands of the aviation establishment and given to the grown-ups did common sense prevail. In my case BALPA refused to provide legal support for the trial and the CAA's response was 'get over it'. Things should get very interesting at BALPA towers and the CAA over the next few months

[hec7or]

I worked for the other big UK charter operator and found that they were incapable of sticking to the rostered block times due to creating their own congestion down-route. The three sector days were simply vile with the third sector spent flopped out in the back of a taxi for 2 or 3 hours after a long duty spent dealing with slot delays and disruptive passengers. The stress for me over the summer just built up due to the long randomly rostered duties and missed ATC slots, with insufficient downtime on off days to restore a safe level of alertness.

I got out before I parked my car in a ditch on the long drive back to my home base.

[Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP]

I worked for AIH/MYT/TCX from early 1992 until it folded in 2019. It wasn't perfect and I got screwed over a few times. On the other hand, there were times when they were more than generous when I had done a favour. I can remember doing a week BKK layover on leave when they bought me a BKK-SYD-BKK ticket to spend the week with the wife whilst she was on an Aus trip. It was offered up, I didn't even ask for it.

It wasn't perfect. Is anything in aviation? I think many of us knew of Mike's fight against the injustices/system. But you have to ask yourself if it was all worth it. The airline has gone and so have all the people involved. Some basically good people. Some less so.

[Youmightsaythat]

I don't think you quite get what it is all about do you? "when they were more than generous when I had done a favour." You mean operate illigally? fly days off? Oh, believe me, it will all be worth it

[Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP]

Maybe I don't get quite what it was all about. I'm only stating my experience which is obviously different to yours. I was never asked to do anything illegal. I would swear that under oath. Like many, I did a bit of horse trading with days off and overtime, but I always knew that it would stand scrutiny if questioned.

[megan]

Delta pilot whistleblower

With the Boeing saga another example of the face of business and the regulatory body (FAA). Are we interested in safety? You bet, not.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/faa-chi...es-11609085771

[Typhoon Surfer]

Mike, I just stumbled over your book on another website and immediately realised it's the book I'd love to have written myself if I had the time and talent. I certainly feel the motivation, and want to thank you for doing this.
I have ordered the hardback version and look forward to reading it, and to the release of the other two books.
I truly wish every commercial pilot would support your efforts by buying a copy - or two! Pass it on to their family and friends, and get the truth out about this industry and its hypocrisy. 'Safety First', my ass! After the revelations from Boeing I hope the lid has been finally lifted on that lie.

[Han Special]

An enjoyable read but a shocking wake-up call that some airline managers, union bosses and even the CAA don't really care about safety.

[Youmightsaythat]

Thanks for the support guys!

Thank you for your kind comments about the book but, in the words of Bachman–Turner Overdrive 'You Aint Seen Nothing Yet'.

The reason I split the book into three is I wanted the 'non' aviation population to get a good grounding of the aviation business. I wanted them to really see what lies behind their £20 return to Malaga. I wanted to highlight the effort, the money and commitment we all exert to become pilots, to only become indentured slaves to a group of 'barrow boy' management types not fit to run a bath never mind an airline. What the next two in the series reveal is, they are not actually the real villains. It is the union BALPA and the CAA. The head of the BALPA NEC has already attempted to claim on a public forum that the details in the book was a 'nice history rewrite'. The senior BALPA figure making that comment has a bit of a problem. He made the comment before the release of the book. Whoops. The sad reality is, I expected nothing less.

Those very few who have already had access to the other two volumes (currently being edited) are appalled at the politics, collusion and coverup at the union and CAA and an independent investigation company. Indeed one does not need to look far to see the 'influence' of the 'good old boy' network. Anyone else wondering why this thread was shifted to this backwater? One poster on here claims 'well I was never asked to do anything illegal'. I would therefore suggest he stands alone in that particular 'ven diagram'. Indeed Hutchings, Scadeng and Thorington, on oath also claim the FDP was legal... I won't spoil the surprise for you.

A few have suggested the only reason for writing the book is to 'cash in'. I strongly suspect those making such comments (always anonymously of course) are exactly the same type who would sell their grannies for a day off payment.

No, as a few of you have already alluded to, and the comments in the reviews on Amazon highlight, the real reason is to finally expose exactly the state of the airline industry and name those who are behind this cancerous culture that now infects the union and regulator. With the industry in the state it is in, is there any better time to cut out the deadwood and, well you know, just follow laws already in place.

I have been inundated with messages from pilots and cabin crew all highlighting their own dealings with the current crop of Dunning Kruger managers, union and CAA officials.

The ONLY way things will change is either via a high profile crash (Tombstone Safety) or the real dirty secrets being given a wide as possible public audience. That is the reason for writing the series.

The facts are in the book (I spent £1000's on legal advice on what I could and could say) Every single item is backed up by evidence presented to two judges. Would a Superior Court Judge really write the foreword if there was any doubt as to its legitimacy?

So please spread the word, use the book as a rallying point to actually make a change. Write to the CAA, post on BALPA, hassle your MP. Otherwise, as Judge George W King writes in the foreword its just another example of 'From the safest places come the bravest words'.

Again guys, thank you for the support.

[beardy]

The ONLY way things will change is either via a high profile crash (Tombstone Safety) or the real dirty secrets being given a wide as possible public audience.

Those things do not make change in themselves, they prompt change only when people care enough. They are not the ONLY mechanisms to make people care enough, they just happen to be the ones you are promoting. They can be very effective but can also, at times, be counterproductive. Behaviour modification is a complex topic, or so my dog tells me.

Anyway good luck

[Youmightsaythat]

Cheers Beardy!

Unfortunately, every other avenue has been closed down by BALPA and the Union(how will be explained in book two and three). We are way past the counterproductive stage now.

[nonsense]

Originally Posted by Ancient-Mariner

Karlene Petitt may well have a case against Delta's expert psychiatrist Dr Altman?

And so it came to pass:
https://www.seattletimes.com/busines...e-fought-back/

On Christmas Eve 2016, Karlene Petitt, an international long-haul pilot for Delta Air Lines, received a devastating letter that threatened to end her career.
She had been grounded since March pending an evaluation by a company-assigned doctor. The letter informed her of his diagnosis: She was mentally unfit for duty and would not be permitted to fly again.
Petitt had then been flying commercial jets for 35 years. She’d raised three children, earned a doctorate and two master’s degrees and wrote a series of books, all while performing perfectly as a pilot.
In early November of the previous year, she had sent emails to her superiors criticizing Delta’s safety culture, initiating a series of interactions with them about safety issues.
Just six days later, captain Jim Graham, then Delta’s vice president of flight operations, in an email to a pilot manager under him, indicated clearly his intention to put a stop to Petitt’s critique and to do so using a Kafkaesque process called a “Section 15,” which would label her too mentally unstable to be a pilot.
“We should consider whether a Section 15 is appropriate,” Graham wrote. “If she cannot embrace and understand the reasons behind our actions, it stands to reason she might not be able to make appropriate decisions for the safe operation of a flight.”
Hired by Delta for $74,000, Dr. David Altman produced the necessary diagnosis: In 2016, he evaluated Petitt as having bipolar disorder.
Altman later testified that his diagnosis was driven in part by Petitt’s accomplishments. The books, the degrees, the piloting job, all while raising kids, it was “well beyond what any woman I’ve ever met could do” — and therefore suggestive that she was manic.
This extraordinary process brought the full weight of a big corporation to bear on Petitt. She was grounded. Her career looked over.
Yet she fought back. She resisted. And she won.
A “Soviet-style” psychiatric evaluation
Friday, a final settlement of Petitt’s case after a six-and-a-half-year legal battle sealed a comprehensive loss for Delta and a rare instance of complete vindication for a whistleblower.
Administrative Law Judge Scott Morris upheld his earlier order characterizing Delta’s use of the psychiatric diagnosis as an abuse of a mental evaluation system in place for cases of last resort.
Morris ruled it “improper for [Delta] to weaponize this process for the purposes of obtaining blind compliance by its pilots.”
Delta must pay Petitt $500,000 as compensation plus years of legal fees.
Meanwhile, Altman in 2020 forfeited his medical license rather than face charges over his conduct.
Earlier, after Altman’s diagnosis fell apart, Delta was forced to reinstate Petitt.
Petitt’s attorney, Lee Seham, has represented 50 or 60 aviation industry whistleblowers in his career but said he’s “never before been in such an ugly war of attrition as with Delta.”
“They lost before an administrative law judge, they lost before the appellate body, they got thrown out by the 11th Circuit,” he said. “They were willing to litigate it to the death.”
Yet even after Altman’s discrediting and loss of the case, Delta didn’t discipline any employees for deploying what Seham calls a “Soviet-style psychiatric examination” to try to silence Petitt.
In response to a request for comment, Delta provided a statement that made no apology and admitted no wrongdoing.
“We made a business decision to settle the matter rather than appeal a decision that we disagreed with,” spokesperson Catherine Morrow wrote in an email. “Delta’s fitness for duty testing process for pilots is in place to ensure safety and it works.”
Seham finds that worrisome.
“I don’t know that the message to the Delta pilots is anything other than, keep your mouth shut,” he said.
Most Read Business Stories
“That an airline can act with that level of impunity is troubling,” Seham added. “Because you can’t have a safe airline if pilots are afraid.”
Still, Petitt, who never yielded to the pressure, is back flying international routes for Delta out of Seattle.
Petitt’s report on Delta’s safety culture
Reached by phone on Friday, Petitt said she could not comment because of a company prohibition against speaking to the media without permission while identified as a Delta employee.
The legal filings, including internal Delta management emails revealed in discovery, tell the story.
Petitt, 60, has a doctorate in aviation safety from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. In late 2015 she listened to Delta’s then-CEO Richard Anderson in a keynote speech say that it was the duty of all employees to speak up if they were aware of safety issues. Such concerns were the subject of the Ph.D. thesis she was then working on.
Petitt began requesting meetings with her supervisors at Delta — including Graham and his boss, Senior Vice President of Flight Operations Steve Dickson, who was later appointed head of the Federal Aviation Administration.
In early 2016, Petitt presented a report to Dickson and Graham listing a series of lapses and including analysis of some nearly catastrophic incidents.
That March, Graham pulled the trigger on Section 15 and referred Petitt for a mental health evaluation from Altman, with whom the company had a long relationship. Petitt learned of the diagnosis in the mail that Christmas Eve.
The Section 15 process then allows the accused pilot to select an independent medical examiner. If that doctor disagrees with the company’s doctor, they have to agree on a third neutral examiner to decide the case.
Petitt engaged a panel of nine medical doctors from the Mayo Clinic’s Aerospace Medicine Department. They concluded unanimously that she did not have bipolar disorder, nor any psychiatric disorder.
Dr. Lawrence Steinkraus, of the Mayo Clinic, testified that Altman’s diagnosis was “a puzzle for our group.”
“The evidence does not support presence of a psychiatric diagnosis but does support an organizational/corporate effort to remove this pilot from the rolls,” Steinkraus testified.
When the neutral doctor backed the Mayo Clinic doctors, Petitt had to be reinstated.
Meanwhile, Petitt had filed a whistleblower complaint.
Helping her case considerably, the Chicago-based Altman forfeited his medical license in 2020 rather than face charges from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation over his conduct of psychiatric exams in the cases of two Delta pilots, one of whom was Petitt.
In December 2020, Judge Morris delivered a scathing ruling that accused Delta of “weaponizing” the Section 15 process to silence internal dissent. In it, he noted of Petitt’s ability as a pilot that “not a single witness questioned her flying acumen.”
He called Graham’s testimony “of dubious credibility.”
Morris awarded Petitt the $500,000 in compensation after considering “not only the harm to her reputation, the embarrassment and emotional hardship she has endured over an extended period of time, but also … the realistic loss of future opportunities for promotion.”
He ordered Delta to prominently post copies of his decision at every pilot base, so that its more than 13,000 pilots would be made aware.
Morris also ordered that Petitt be reinstated with the highest wages of any Delta first officer and made whole for the lost time flying.
Delta appealed but lost again. Friday’s settlement ended the case.
In 2019, the case raised political hackles when President Donald Trump nominated Steve Dickson to be FAA administrator.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., met with Petitt in person and found her credible, she said in an interview.
In a speech on the Senate floor at the confirmation hearing, Cantwell rallied her Democratic colleagues to oppose Dickson’s appointment expressly because of Petitt’s treatment.
“I ask my colleagues to turn down this nomination today and to help us create an environment where whistleblowers will be listened to,” Cantwell said then.
Dickson nevertheless was confirmed in the role, but with only 52 Senate votes.
He stepped down as FAA Administrator in February, just over halfway through his term.
In October 2020, Graham was promoted to CEO of Endeavor, Delta’s regional carrier subsidiary and senior vice president of Delta Connection, the airline’s partnership with regional carriers Skywest and Republic Airways.
Petitt has been back flying for Delta since the independent doctors finally discredited Altman’s diagnosis in 2017. In her current assignment, if you fly Delta out of Seattle to London or Paris on an Airbus A330, she may be your pilot.

[Uplinker]

youmightsaythat

........actually the real villains. It is the union BALPA and the CAA.....

I did often wonder, and frequently had the uneasy feeling that our Union, and our Company Councils had been nobbled in some way. Strike action is very rare with our union and one wonders why, particularly when (lack of) safety is the usual reason for our unrest.