I turned and said, "most of us are pretty impressed with what you guys do."
As is true with most professionals, he shrugged off the compliment, saying that what he did was not all that hard.
Bullshit. And why I always poke my head into the cabin as I deplane to say thank you (as you should too).
But the conversation quickly turned to what the pilot said WAS hard. Pilot Fatigue. He said that, more often than not, it was airline scheduling (and not weather/equipment delays) that put him in the position of having to consider whether he was up to piloting that last leg of the day. It's the schedule that has him going out on a 6am flight on Tuesday and then starting his day at 2pm the next day that is the culprit.
He said that he'd walked away from a couple flights because of fatigue...but that, if a pilot does that too often, there are severe consequences from the airline.
Coincidently, as I waited on my connecting flight that day, I saw this post on Upgrade: Travel Better...about a PBS Frontline story citing Pilot Fatigue as being one of the biggest dangers to air passengers.
It probably won't change things much (nothing much seems to capture the airlines' attention these days)...but airlines need to get a clue that their most important asset isn't their planes, but their incredibly talented pilots.
My nephew is a Delta pilot. I have a feeling he'd agree with everything you said.
Posted by: Tim Morrissey | March 02, 2010 at 07:37