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Unless it's a really long haul....I would say NO, I want my pilot to be awake and alert at ALL times.
It's amazing what a good 20 minute micro nap can do for overall safety.
With the current flight time and duty regulations, it is impossible to expect a pilot to be at work for 16 hours with no break. Throw in multiple flights a day and multiple weather situations, and you have a recipe for fatigue. Give them a break
i don't see anything wrong with it as long as one of them is awake and alert. forcing both of them to stay awake on long flights is flirting with disaster as anyone who has forced themselves to stay awake on a long drive can testify.
Not way they should sleep in their homes this people is carry HUMAN BEINGS is not pigs or horses not even carrying animals should be permissible is is outrageous they should be FIRED ,thanks God nothing mayor happening ,we get in this planes paying more money for everything ,getting in line having to deal with this people arrogant and mean sometimes in the Airport,spend all day flying and in top of that this irresponsible guys sleeping ???NOT way !get them FIRED!!!!!I work in a desk 3-11pm and I would not sleep in my job I have responsibility with human beings there..their excuse was they were talking well is not time to talk or chat but work this is not a toy this is PLANE!!!!!!!!
You don't have 16 hour work days, nor the responsiblity of flying people under various different weather conditions. There are, at all times, 3 people on the plane who can fly the plane solo and communicate with Air Traffic control. They NEED to alternate sleeping times. Better have 2 fully refreshed pilots available and one asleep than 3 drowsy.
You think you have "three at all times" do you? Check!
Being a very experienced pilot myself, I cannot understand why a pilot at the control needs a nap. It means that they are not taking rest as per regulations. They have no business to fly if they cannot stay awake for at least 10 hours at a stretch.
Good !finally someone with sense and a pilot itself can say something that is the true if they are not rested they don't have any business flying a plane full of people!We are not allow to take naps while we are working ....okay flying a plane is not working it is having a good time?they should be FIRED for ever they took a risk with human beings they deserve be in jail or punish firing him form work they don't belong in that kind of job.
Why are they tired ? overtime hours don't work overtime ...this is a very responsible position ....
Beellylove, let me guess, english is your second language? Third? You better not have written this email at work or you should be...... FIRED. Lighten up, this is about an important job, not whatever meaningless job you do. And in this country, the answer to all things is not , Put someone in Jail.
Well, I wouldn't want a drowsy pilot, but fir the most part, as long as there is someone awake, it's alright with me!
They should get proper rest between their scheduled flights. If they can't get rest between their flights they shouldn't be flying anything! I pay enough for their service, they could have the respect for our lives and stay concious!
Absolutely. If I fall asleep on the job I would get fired immediately. No questions asked. He is a pilot he better get me to my planned destination right?
I am with you I know people who get fired because they found them sleeping in the job ,and they are only Security guys and they are in the earth not in the skies ....
The Airline Industry should have someone responsible enough to make out a schedule that would not require a pilot boarding a plane in need of sleep. I fly only in emergencies since all the restrictions went into effect. I don't like being held prisoner
Perhaps if they were paid a livable wage they wouldn't be working two jobs or collecting food stamps. Anyone remember the crash in Buffalo last winter. One of the pilots was commuting from the west coast because her salary was so low she couldn't afford to live near her base airport, Newark, NJ, on the east coast. So she commuted from the west coast to the east coast for her job as a pilot becasue she had to live with her parents. Does anyone else see anything wrong with this?
MM Blog
Sunday, October 11th, 2009
Pilots on Food Stamps
By Michael Moore
We're on the descent from 20,000 feet in the air when the flight attendant leans over the elderly woman next to me and taps me on the shoulder.
"I'm listening to Lady Gaga," I say as I remove just one of the ear buds. I know not this Lady Gaga, but her performance last week on SNL was fascinating.
"The pilots would like to see you in the cockpit when we land," she says with a southern drawl.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No. They have something to show you." (The last time an employee of an airline wanted to show me something it was her written reprimand for eating an in-flight meal without paying for it. "Yes," she said, "we have to pay for our own meals on board now.")
The plane landed and I stepped into the cockpit. "Read this," the first officer said. He handed me a letter from the airline to him. It was headlined "LETTER OF CONCERN." It seems this poor fellow had taken three sick days in the past year. The letter was a warning not to take another one -- or else.
"Great," I said. "Just what I want -- you coming to work sick, flying me up in the air and asking to borrow the barf bag from my seatback pocket."
He then showed me his pay stub. He took home $405 this week. My life was completely and totally in his hands for the past hour and he's paid less than the kid who delivers my pizza.
I told the guys that I have a whole section in my new movie about how pilots are treated (using pilots as only one example of how people's wages have been slashed and the middle class decimated). In the movie I interview a pilot for a major airline who made $17,000 last year. For four months he was eligible -- and received -- food stamps. Another pilot in the film has a second job as a dog walker.
"I have a second job!," the two pilots said in unison. One is a substitute teacher. The other works in a coffee shop. You know, maybe it's just me, but the two occupations whose workers shouldn't be humpin' a second job are brain surgeons and airline pilots. Call me crazy.
I told them about how Capt. "Sully" Sullenberger (the pilot who safely landed the jet in the Hudson River) had testified in Congress that no pilot he knows wants any of their children to become a pilot. Pilots, he said, are completely demoralized. He spoke of how his pay has been cut 40% and his own pension eliminated. Most of the TV news didn't cover his remarks and the congressmen quickly forgot them. They just wanted him to play the role of "HERO," but he was on a more important mission. He's in my movie.
"I hadn't heard anywhere that this stuff about the airlines is in this new movie," the pilot said.
"No, you wouldn't," I replied. "The press likes to talk about me, not the movie."
And it's true. I've been surprised (and slightly annoyed) that, with all that's been written and talked about "Capitalism: A Love Story," very little attention has been paid the mind-blowing stuff in the film: pilots on food stamps, companies secretly taking out life insurance policies on employees and hoping they die young so the company can collect, judges getting kickbacks from the private prison industry for sending innocent people (kids) to be locked up. The profit motive -- it's a killer.
Especially when your pilot started his day at 6am working at the local Starbucks.
Babina, I know you mean well, but no one puts a gun to anyones head to be an airline pilot. We all have freedom of choice. If you don't like the pay or work conditions, quit, or don"t become one in the first place. The profit motive ain't perfect, but it's way better than every other system here on planet earth(socialism/communism, etc.). By the way, you know why Michael Moore makes movies.........MONEY.
Two entirely different issues. Fair pay and Flight safety! Are we willing to say we will risk our safety because pilots aren't paid enough? By the way, I agree entirely with the fair pay issue!
As an Airline Captain with over 30 years experience, napping not only improves safety but as I recall, encouraged by the FAA a few years back. I don't know why the press is claiming that it is against FAA regulations!
Being on the job means working, not sleeping. If pilots cannot manage the requirements, then they need to find another line of work that is within their abilities.
Newsflash, sleeping is allowed in Airline Cockpits. Just not U.S. carriers.
NO!
Sorry Doug, if that bothers you , you might want to stay off Asian Carriers, Singapore,etc.
As long as the nap doesn't occur during a time that the pilot is responsible for controlling the aircraft.
How can we be sure he wakes up? This is the DUMBEST question I have ever heard. 300 people flying at 20,000 feet, and the pilot's asleep? PLEASE!
There are two pilots aboard the plane and the plane is perfectly capable of flying itself. I see no harm if one takes a brief nap while the other is watching the controls.
I want a piolet whpis awake and on top of things, after all it's my life in his hands. If the airlines are putting me at risk I want a HUGE discount on my ticket
Only if there are two pilots!!