Hmmm...."deserves Congratulations Beyond All Belief"? A Hero?

[Vsplat]

Evnin IFG.

Foggy is one of the few privileges that comes with age, if you can call that a privilege.

To be clear, swing for the fences when you negotiate. Lord knows the fellas on the other side of the table are.

BUT. Win or lose, we need to retain perspective. Pilots can walk in and demand $5M a year because the CEO gets it. At the end of the day, we have to realise it is not in the cards. That's really all I'm getting at. It's not the fault of another employee group. It is what the job can demand in this workplace at this time.

The irony in all of this is that there are lots of very, VERY talented people who are under-utilized, and so probably under paid, in the airline business. Pilots, Flight Attendants, AMEs, station staff. It has always disturbed me how we so carefully hire the very best, top-drawer go-getters with degrees upon degrees, then assign them exactly one, tightly-scripted task for the next 30 years and ignore their resume from the moment they get an employee number. How many world-beating innovations have we not implemented as a result? Too many.

Like I said, we pay for the job in the job description, whether it is done by an astronaut or a street urchin. Same wage. Fair? Well, discussing that is thread drift on a continental scale....

I hope this gives definition to the fog....

Best

Vs

[Lakelad]

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Safety board launches investigation of small air carriers

Transportation Safety Board of Canada launches special investigation into operations of small air carriers after concerns about their safety record.


Sat Jan 03 2015 - Toronto Star
By: Bruce Campion-Smith

OTTAWA—The air traffic controller’s voice crackled over the radio, clearing pilot Fariborz Abasabady for takeoff from Winnipeg airport.

Abasabady pushed the throttles forward and the twin engines of his Piper PA-31 Navajo Chieftain roared, accelerating the plane down the runway and up into the cold winter sky.

On this day — Jan. 10, 2012 — Abasabady had four passengers with him on the flight operated by Keystone Air Service. Their first stop was North Spirit Lake, an aboriginal community in northern Ontario, northeast of Winnipeg.

Like so many other flights that occur daily across Canada, this one was a lifeline, linking remote communities with larger centres.

As the flight arrived over North Spirit Lake, Abasabady, 41, was told that the runway was being plowed and that he would have to delay his landing.

But the mix of clouds and freezing temperatures produced what is known as icing conditions in the skies above the community. In aviation, ice can be a killer. As it accumulates on an aircraft, it adds weight, causes drag and disrupts the airflow over the wings, impairing the ability to create lift.

As Abasabady circled the airport for 25 minutes, his Piper aircraft accumulated “significant” amounts of ice, degrading its ability to fly. Indeed, as he made his approach to the airport, the aircraft lost flying speed, banked suddenly and crashed onto a frozen lake short of the runway. Abasabady and three passengers were killed. The fourth passenger survived but was seriously injured.

Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada cited the pilot’s inexperience as a possible factor in deciding to make an approach to the remote airport in bad weather. Though he had logged 2,400 hours, most of his flying had been in good weather on less complex aircraft.

This crash is not an isolated incident. Older planes, younger pilots and remote airports are proving to be a deadly mix in Canadian skies.

“remuneration based on miles or hours flown has a direct and negative impact on pilots’ decision making.”

.

[Specs]

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Air taxis prompt Ottawa probe after 175 crash deaths

Transportation Safety Board of Canada to start investigation in early 2015

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I'd be more elated if they started to investigate TC.

I don't mean that as a slight to anybody at TC, most of whom I have the utmost respect for, but they simply are not staffed well enough to be doing the job we all expect them to do for our own safety.