Colgan Airways flight
To most members of the flying public, the logo on the tail of an airliner tells us who is responsible for the flight. However, in the eighties when Reagan deregulated the airline industry, a fundamental change occurred. Legacy carriers, (United , Delta, American, etc..) stopped flying to smaller cities. They instead entered codeshare agreements with another smaller airline. The regionals flew these shorter routes in smaller turboprops, then smaller jets. However, people buy tickets based in part on name recognition, so you were not going to buy a ticket for Mesa to take you from El Paso to Phoenix. So Mesa signed an agreement with United, painted United on the tail, and they flew you to Phoenix. The public went to Continental’s website, bought a ticket that said Continental, and got on an airplane that had the Continental logo on the side. But this aircraft was owned and operated by another entity such as Colgan. There are several established regional airlines that fly the bulk of these smaller routes. Mesa, Skywest, Commair and Colgan are not well known names to the flying public, but they fly the bulk of these regional routes. They fly them with airplanes which have Continental, Delta, United, or American Eagle logo on the tail.
This brings us to Colgan flight 3047, which impacted the ground outside of Buffalo, New York on February 12, 2009 with the loss of 50 lives. The pilots flew into an area of icing, and for reasons still being debated they lost control of the aircraft. The pilot lived in Central Florida. The copilot lived on the West Coast. Both had commuted from their residences to their base in the New York City/Newark area. In particular the copilot had commuted all night to get to her flight by her scheduled duty time. Why did she do this?, because she only makes about 1500 dollars a month, and nobody can live around New York City for that amount. She also stated she did not feel well, but if she called out sick, she would have to get a hotel room at her own expense due to Colgan’s policies. Why would she take a job like that, because it is flying for a living, a coveted spot. Regional pilot groups say the race to the bottom to provide cheap ticket prices has lead regional carriers like Colgan, to pay low wages, hire inexperienced pilots, and treat them terrible. More experienced flight crews, such as those flying for legacy carriers, like Delta have certainly made mistakes and put their aircraft into the ground. Few would expect a pilot with 600 hours to have the same level of competency of a pilot with 6000 hours. The ups and downs of the economy has enabled pilots to ask for better wages when there was a shortage of pilots, and has allowed carriers to pay less than flipping burgers when the hiring slows down. As an attorney in Florida, I am required to provide a written document listing my qualifications to any client that asks. The next time you walk down the tube and enter an airliner, ask the pilot if he works for the people with their name on the tail, or someone else, and ask how many hours experience he has, how well he slept last night, and where did he commute from.
Colgan is entering contract negotiations with its pilot group right now. The pilot group sees an opportunity to break out the “safety for the flying public card” to demand greater wages and a better work enviroment. The pilot group believes the public will demand better wages and working conditions in the name of safety. The company believes the public will demand low ticket fares and just not think about safety. Will the flying public start to ask these questions about their aircrew, or will they do as they have done in the past, trust the name on the tail to make everything comes out alright.
