Last night, I flipped on the TV, and on was Larry King Live. The subject was US Airways and their unsafe tactics. Pilots for US Airways are claiming that management is pressuring them to use less fuel to the point where it is unsafe. There has been speculation that management is intimidating pilots to use less fuel below FAA standards, however this is not the case. US Airways said that they are not intimidating pilots. Yet is it right for management, who typically are not professionally trained pilots, to make these judgements?
Pilots are in charge of determining how much fuel is safe for flight. That’s imperative to this situation. Perhaps the pilots at US Airways are using more than the FAA standard and management is unhappy with that. The FAA standard says that a pilot has to have enough fuel for 45 minutes after the scheduled arrival time at the scheduled airport and the alternate airport. As you may know, more fuel = more weight. More weight = more fuel used. However, US Airways went over the line when they ordered eight pilots who requested 10 to 15 minutes more of fuel to have checkrides, that can put their licenses in jeopardy. The pilots are used to having 60 to 90 minutes extra of fuel time for each flight. However a spokesman for US Airways said that the 8 pilots were well above that range, hence their checkrides.
The problem that’s in hand with this fuel dilemma is when airliners are late and Air Traffic Control is pressured to land all these aircraft in a short time. Air Traffic Control would then be forced to use intersecting runways, which could endanger lives. ATC would also have to get these planes up in the air quickly so that they don’t have to turn around and go back to the gate to get more fuel (if there was a 45 minute + delay).
The pilots union for US Airways represents the airline’s 5,200 pilots. The union also paid for an ad in the USA-Today newspaper saying that corporate is forcing pilots to keep “you”, the passenger, unsafe.
US Airways is still using the regular and safe amounts for fuel, but they just want some pilots not to overdo it. I agree with them, but I also agree that if they’re going to do this, they need to be quick on the ground at airports so that airliners do not over-stress air traffic control. 45 minutes to me is ample time. I’m curious to know how much money 50 minutes of extra fuel (as a standard) would save the company.
Update:
I received a comment from Capt. Russ Webber, a US Airways 757 pilot, who talked about the two different unions that US Airways has. As I said in an earlier post, a few days ago, the US Airways merger is incomplete. There are two unions, the Air Line Pilots Association (America West pilots) and the US Airways Pilots Association USAPA (the east). USAPA is trying to get higher wages, like the pilots in the west, and might be drawing attention to themselves with this announcement. Personally, I think that Capt. Russ is right on with that comment. I’m sure this public attention is really killing US Airways public relations. It’s no wonder why the two unions won’t become one.
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