Flying Cheap: Professionalism in the Regional Carriers

Hello aviators. With this post, the second weeks chapter is out in what is hopefully to be an ongoing aviation blog. Last week, we reviewed documentary "Flying Cheap", if you haven't please make sure you review it before you finish reading this post. It will make a lot more sense. Being the budding aviation student I am, I was asked a series of questions that I want to answer in this blog. The first question was, what specific job and company in the aviation industry would I like to end up at? I can tell you now, I had no interest in the airlines even before watching the documentary, and watching the documentary confirmed a lot of suspicions. My goal in aviation has always been two fold, I want to earn my rotary wing certifications for the military and fixed wing certifications on the civilian side. And now for the details, because I know you're sitting there thinking oh the airlines are great, airlines are awesome job and career. Well, I have been in the military for nearly 12 years now. I joined at 17 as an infantryman and have been deployed three separate times. Now that I am back home attending college courses, I wanted to switch my military career path from infantry to aviation. My end goal is to be a unit flight officer, preferably for a Black Hawk Squadron. This job would entail creating flight plans, scheduling fuel runs and training flights, and setting forth the overall tasking of the unit. Even though I would be behind desk for majority of my career, flight officers often have to retain their flight status by taking currency flights. These flights are similar to FAA check rides on the civilian side. I still plan to retain my civilian pilot certifications but only use them as a certified flight instructor at whatever base I am currently stationed at. Another question that was posed to me was, are there any safety or liability concerns with the job you listed? Considering that this is a military aviation job, a couple of risks immediately sprang to mind. For times sake, we'll avoid the obvious concerns and focus more on the job specific concerns. Aviation unit flight officers are responsible for the training and certifications of their units pilots. In addition, they also have to maintain and supervise the units maintenance records and aircraft. Mission planning is also a critical aspect of the job, officers have to plan training missions so they do not burn out their new pilots with too many flight hours. Things like load plans and fuel requirements also have to go into training considerations. Just like a normal flight, weight, balance, passenger manifest, and equipment needed are all taken into consideration and must be planned ahead by the unit flight officer. After sense, an aviation flight officer acts as a pilot in command with regards to planning and safety, and also and FAA representative while supervising and training others. In the documentary, it was suggested that the accident was caused by a lack of professionalism. One of the additional questions asked of me was define what I think professionalism is. In my definition of professionalism, a professional is anybody that is paid or compensated to perform an action or service to that professions set of ethical and technical standards. The Colgan accident demonstrates this definition by pointing out the lack of standards that was expected of the flight crew. Two of these factors were the self disregard of the mental and physical health of the flight crew, and the flight crew's reaction to the stall warning and stick shakers systems resulting in the crash. The flight crew knew they were not mentally or physically fit to fly. The first officer audibly complained of being sick and having to commute a long distance in order to make this flight. The captain upon hearing the news from his first officer, should have requested the flight be canceled or a new first officer brought on board but instead he disregarded it. To me that is a disregard of ethical standards. When ice build up occurred on the outside of the aircraft, the autopilot attempted to correct. Upon turning off the auto pilot captain attempted to raise the nose despite the fact that he was losing air speed. When the stick shaker went off as the airplane was approaching critical stall speed, the captain pulled up on the stick even further, causing the crash. This demonstrates a lack of technical standards. Overall, the documentary was a brief but not unexpected look into the world of regional airlines. If your own goals are oriented to becoming a regional, then professional airline pilot, don't let accidents or incidents like Colgan affect your decision. The airline industry depends on the regional pilots in order to draw for it's own pilot pool. The more professionals we have entering this pool will ensure safe for flight in future air travel.