Posts Tagged ‘FAA’
FAA Wants to Stop Being Cozy
The FAA is apparently tired of the soft reputation they seem to have fallen into. With their “street cred” low the FAA looks to toughen up. In recent years it seems that the FAA, which is supposed to be watching out for the safety of the traveling public, has gotten too “cozy” with the airlines it is supposed to be regulating. Events that show disregard for the regulations the FAA has in place have been brought to the public eye more often now than in the past. Some such incidents causing mass delays, grounding planes, and cancelling flights. Congress and some watchdog organizations have been calling for reform.
What is the FAA doing in response? They are going to start by changing their vocabulary and cracking down on safety practices. The FAA with no longer call the airlines “customers” and will now use the term “stakeholder” for these bodies they govern.
Will this be the beginning of tougher enforcement by the government agency? The FAA has for sometime now had relationships that seems too close with the airlines it should have under it’s regulations. While the “wording” may change right away, it may take some time to see a true change in the actions. In other words, how long before they can walk the walk.
This comes at a rough time for the many US Airlines out there amidst economic struggles . Many airlines are struggling to stay in business much less, turn a profit. Now, they will feel more pressure from the FAA and things could get a bit more tough for them. Ultimately you can’t argue with something that has to do with passenger safety.
Tags: airlines, cancelling flights, FAA, passenger, passenger safety, safety, safety practices, US Airlines
Southwest Early Boarding Fee
Southwest is implementing a new policy to attract more revenue. At this point in time Southwest does not charge for bags like the other airlines and cannot draw from this income for profitability. Right now, if you pay and extra $10 dollars per flight you can be a part of the early boarding process along with Business Select passengers and their frequent flyers. Their hope is that this will draw the extra revenue the other airlines are getting from checked baggage fees.
This comes at a time when Southwest Airlines is facing Problems with the FAA over unauthorized parts in their jets and flight cuts out of Midway. Seventeen destinations will be cut from the current locales they serve to accommodate for the reduction in passengers in the current economic downturn. West coast destinations like San Francisco will be hit the hardest but, Pittsburgh will also feel the impact as two of their six nonstops to Midway are cut. If this new $10 early boarding fee does not have the desired impact, fees for checked bags may not be far off.
Tags: $10 early boarding fee, airlines, Business Select passengers, checked baggage fees, early boarding, FAA, flight cuts, frequent flyers, Midway, Southwest, Southwest Airlines
Pilots’ Fatigue
Over the course of the next several months the FAA will be reviewing ways to prevent pilot fatigue. There have been a string of crashes in recent decades associated with this problem. Some cases have caused mass loss of life and others, luckily, just a bit of embarrassment. Last year two Mesa pilots fell asleep during a midmorning flight from Honolulu to Hilo for eighteen minutes until air traffic controllers noticed them going out to sea instead of their intended destination. Controllers woke the pilots and they landed safely. This illustrates the point that this issue needs to be addressed.
The laws in place today about how long airline pilots can be scheduled to work were written back in the day of propeller planes, almost a half a century ago. This has been in place for a long time and governs modern flying standards without regard to flight in today’s world, especially regional flying. It seems this is long overdue for a revision.
Why has it been in place for so long without revision? It could be that changing the rules would be costly for airlines. Rules in place right now say that a pilot can be scheduled for up to 16 hours on duty with eight hours of actual flying and eight hours off in between. These types of schedules can be extremely fatiguing to regional pilots who have to make around six legs of flight in a seven hour period. If this were changed airlines would have to hire more crews to compensate.
NASA research has been conducted and shows that pilots do better with a controlled napping system. This would allow pilots to nap during the “cruise” portion of a flight. Other countries are using these policies but the FAA has not approved it for US flight. There is concern by officials that it would be ridiculed by popular media.
Something needs to be done and change needs to take place soon. Why risk even one more flight going down because of outdated policies? Human life aboard these flights should be more valued than extra cost to airlines for more crews or the chance of ridicule over policies that make for safer flights and more alert pilots.
www.CaptainNowhere.com
Tags: air traffic controllers, airline, airline pilots, crashes, FAA, loss of life, pilot fatigue, regional flying
Don’t use the Seatback
It is an FAA regulation that, ‘nothing can be stowed in the seat pockets except magazines and passenger information cards.’ Skywest is enforcing this on their flights. Airlines seem to be okay with you using the seatbacks and have only recently begun enforcing the rule as per FAA regulations.
I think that outside of FAA dictates that one should never use the seatback for their own personal belongings. First off, it’s a good way to forget things and lose your personal items. Secondly, most people use them as their own personal wastebaskets. I have found, chewed gum, used Kleenex, dirty diapers, and bottles filled with chewing tobacco. Why would you want to put your personal items in such a dirty place? You might as well lick armrests if you want to be ill.
I say obey the rule not because it will harm anything about the flight if you don’t or because you are an avid rule follower. Rather, follow it because it is in your own best interests of health and hanging on to your personal items.
www.captainnowhere.com
Tags: airline, FAA, flight, plane, regulations, seat backs, seatback