Revisiting Pilot's and Depression

Pilot's are human just as anyone else. Yet, they are held to a higher standard then the rest of the population.  A pilot holds the public's trust in his hands with every flight, so it is important for him to be physically and mentally fit.  Although, he may get sick and come down with a cold or the flu, but what about if a pilot is plagued with depression.  Depression is just as much an illness as any other.

Currently, the industry does not have appropriate procedures in place to protect a pilot if he suffers from depression. He may be worried that if his issues are brought to the surface he will not only lose his job, but also his career. 

Let's say that the airline industry has a procedure in place to treat a pilot with depression. Once the pilot is diagnosed and finds himself "healthy" again how can the FAA be sure that the pilot is fit to fly? These are questions procedures that are sure to be brought up with the future of the aviation industry.  

The biggest case of a pilot with depression lately is the Germanwings 9525 crash with pilot Andreas Lubitz.  Lubitz crashed an Airbus A320 into the French Alps killing 150 people. This was a clear and deliberate murder suicide. Andreas had a history of depression and was originally denied a medical because of that. After receiving treatment he was deemed fit to fly, but that was not true. (Bruer and Marsh, 2015) Lubitz was said to have "reactive depression". This is a psychological state occassioned directly by an intensely sad situation, relived by removal of, alteration of, or response to the external situation. (Farlex n.d.) He must have had a traumatic event in his life that lead him down this terrible path.  So one may ask how Lubitz received his medical after admitting he had depression. He went through treatment and talked to a professional who decided that he would be a safe pilot.  After he was cleared to fly Lubitz basically self-monitoring his depression. There were no follow-ups to judge the progression of his health.  I believe this is where the system failed. If a person is diagnosed with depression then they should have follow up appointments with a professional for the rest of there life.  If this was added to the system then I am sure issues of mass suicide such as this would not arise. 

 The aviation industry is taking strides in the right direction following this accident.  350 pilots in the last five years have been grounded due to mental illness.  The number of diagnosed mental illness cases has increased by 66% over these five years.   This increase is due to the new regulations that allow aircrew to regain there medical certificate, once they have made a full recovery of a depressive illness. (Mathew, 2015) This is an incredible improvement for not only the aviation industry, but also against the illness that is depression.   

Depression was no doubt a part of the cause in the Germanwings crash, but a murder-suicide is cause from a greater mental illness than just depression.  Even before investigators inferred the cause of flight may be from mental status the media was looking at the depression from Lubitz past. This is troubling because it counteracts the idea that people can't change. It's a very cynical approach.  People can change and overcome depression that they may have at a point in time.  (Feldman, 2015) With more knowledge of depression and how to treat it, our industry will become safer and healthier. 

References:

Bruer, W. & Marsh, R. (2015, April 30) FAA questioning mental health of germanwings pilot. CNN Politics. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/29/politics/germanwings-pilot-faa-mental-health/

reactive depression. (n.d.) Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary (2012). Retrieved from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/reactive+depression

Mathew, S. (2015, July 27) 350 british pilots grounded in the last five years because of mental illness, figures released after germanwings crash show. Mail Online. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3176861/Review-British-pilots-mental-health-wake-Germanwings-disaster-finds-350-grounded-past-five-years-276-returned-skies.html

Feldman, D. (2015, June 8) Is it right to blame depression for the crash of germanwings flight 9525. Huffpost Healthy Living. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-feldman/is-it-right-to-blame-depression-for-the-crash-of-germanwings-flight-9525_b_7011660.html

ATC Privatization

Recently, air traffic control privatization has been a growing controversial topic in the aviation industry.  On one hand a majority of the major airlines support privatization. While on the other, the general aviation industry is opposing the concept.  Additionally, Delta Airlines is opposing, but for different reasons than the general aviation industry.  

The GA industry has spoken out against ATC privatization primarily for two points.  These points include increased user fees and unequal treatment towards GA.   According to Wood, (2015) EAA officials stated that consequences of user-fees would penalize the practice of using ATC services, such as filing IFR in marginal conditions or simply receiving VFR advisories.  GA may not be able to use ATC to as full of an extent as they do today.  Also, GA is worried that the airlines will get priority treatment over them because they pay more to the system.

Most of the major airlines including American, Alaska, Jet Blue, and Southwest have recently stated that they urge air traffic control privatization. (Jansen, 2015) They believe that privatization would not only stabilize funding, but that a private corporation would work faster than the FAA to modernize equipment and adopt more efficient flight paths.  These airlines see would see major savings if new technology was implemented in a timely manner.

Privatization is in other countries including Canada, New Zealand, Germany, and the United Kingdom.  The best running privatized system is most likely Canada. Nav Canada's system handles 50 percent more traffic volume then it did before 1996 and it has 25 percent less employees.  Also, Nav Canada has developed and sold ATC technologies around the world. (Bachman, 2015)

In order to introduce to privatization it may be a quite complicated process.  Currently, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster is intending to introduce legislation to congress. (Wood, 2015) If passed it would go to the next step of the legal process.  Even once through, finding a suitable private corporation that's trained appropriately may be difficult. The US airspace is more complicated and busier than that of others, such as Canada.  There is no doubt a long road ahead for privatization.

Personally, I believe that the current FAA implemented ATC system is working quite well.  Reform may be needed so that new technology, such as NextGen comes to fruition more quickly, but the FAA provides a great service to all areas of the aviation industry equally.  The costs and problems that may arise from privatization are not worth the end result.  Also, all the effort the FAA has put in to NextGen could be wasted.  Finally, Delta's planes arrived with in 15 minutes of there scheduled arrival 92.1% of the time over this Thanksgiving season. (Jansen, 2015) This shows the current efficiency of the FAA.  Many of these reasons are why Delta Airlines does not support ATC privatization and neither do I.  

References:

Wood, J. (2015, July 8). Call to action issued over ATC privatization. General Aviation News. Retrieved from http://generalaviationnews.com/2015/07/08/call-to-action-issued-over-atc-privatization/

Jansen, B. (2015, December 2). Airline executives urge privatization of air-traffic control. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/12/01/airline-executives-urge-privatization-air-traffic-control/76604766/

Bachman, J. (2015, September 11). Should the U.S. privatize air-traffic control? Bloomberg Business. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-11/should-the-u-s-privatize-air-traffic-control-

FAA GA Medical Reform

GA medical reform has been on the AOPA's agenda for a while.  The current agenda for GA medical reform is laid out in the Pilot's Bill of Right's 2.  The Pilot's Bill of Right's 2 allows private pilots, flying recreationally not be required to acquire a third class medical.  There are certain provisions that the pilot must follow, but he/she would be free to fly under VFR and IFR flight rules (Tennyson, 2015).  Not requiring all pilots to at least have a third class medical is very controversial.  ALPA argues that this could lead to unfit pilots being given access to national airspace (Pope, 2015).  These pilots would be sharing the airspace with not only other recreational flyers, but also commercial aviation.  This may not be very safe. Although, with this GA reform there is a potential for the government and pilots to save millions of dollars, while also strengthening GA (Tennyson, 2015).  Prospective recreational pilots would not be deterred by the cost or thought of not being able to pass the medical which may lead to a greater GA industry.  

I feel that some GA medical reform may be necessary. On one hand it may be nice to get more pilots flying and the ability to save all parties involved a bit of money.  On the other reform should have a layer in place to "weed out" the prospective pilots that should not be in the air.  It is a balance that could be quite tough to define.  Maybe it would be best to allow flight instructors to advise whether the pilot is fit to fly during the biannual flight review. This would be the most cost appropriate as well as safe way to "weed out" the bad participants without requiring all pilots to acquire a medical certificate.  

References:

Pope, S. (2015, July 28). ALPA moves to block medical reform. Flying.  Retrieved from http://www.flyingmag.com/news/alpa-moves-block-medical-reform-bill

Tennyson, E. A. (2015, February 26). Medical reform legislation introduced in house, senate. AOPA. Retrieved from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/February/26/Medical-reform-legislation-introduced-in-House-and-Senate

Tennyson, E. A. (2015, July 28). AOPA fights back on medical reform. AOPA. Retrieved from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/July/28/AOPA-fights-back-on-medical-reform

A Chinese Competitor to Airbus and Boeing?

At the current time I don't believe the C919 is going to receive FAA certification. Airbus and Boeing especially have interest groups lobbying against the certification I'm sure.  Also, the thought of a Chinese jet is just cringing for most people.  

If the FAA were to give the C919 certification I don't think it would be prevalent in the United States. The public has a very negative view of Chinese made products.  They are seen as cheap and unreliable.  This jet is going to be no different.  The C919 is supposed to be able to be made cheaper then a 737 or A320 eventually, due to the low wage for workers in China. (Perrett, 2013) Although, this may be cause for concern.  If the wages for the employees are so low then how could the manufacture make sure the work is quality.  If a plane breaks in the sky you can't just pull over.  Also, how will the public view the quality of life of the workers in the factory.  Maybe other items can use low wage work, but not building a plane.  

COMAC is also developing an ARJ21.  This will be competition for the CRJ or Embrear aircraft.  (Bloomberg, 2015) This aircraft is waiting on FAA certification too.  If these aircraft were to enter service then I'm sure some foreign carriers would use them.  If they were proven by foreign carriers then, just maybe, domestic carriers would think about them.  These aircraft will probably just be proven on foreign ground though.  

References:

Bloomberg News, (2015, November 2). China debuts first large jet in challenge to boeing, airbus. The Seattle Times. Retrieved from http://www.seattletimes.com/business/china-debuts-first-large-jet-in-challenge-to-boeing-airbus/

Perrett, B. (2013, December 16). C919 may be largely limited to chinese market. Aviation Week. Retrieved from http://aviationweek.com/awin/c919-may-be-largely-limited-chinese-market

Aviation Organizations

When entering in to my professional career, it will beneficial to be apart of some aviation organizations.  The two organizations that come to mind most are ALPA, the Airline Pilots Association, and CAPA, the Coalition of Airline Pilots Association.  

ALPA represents 52,000 pilots making it the worlds largest pilot union.  ALPA's mission is to promote aviation safety, to promote commercial aviation, to assist in collective bargaining, and much more for professional pilots. (ALPA, 1992) Another organization is CAPA.  CAPA is quite similar to ALPA.  CAPA's purpose is to address safety, security, legislative, and regulatory issues in regard to flight deck personnel. (CAPA, N.A.) There are four members of CAPA the Allied Pilot Association, Independent Pilots Association, Teamsters Local 1224, and Teamsters Local 357. It is important to belong to these organizations if your are an airline pilot in the industry.  These groups will promote your career and provide a "voice" for you as an employee.  A bit of protection is given to you from not only your employer, but also the FAA being apart of these organizations.

References:

ALPA. (1992, October). What we do? Airline Pilots Association, International. Retrieved from http://www.alpa.org/about-alpa/what-we-do

CAPA. (N.A.). About CAPA. The Coalition of Airline Pilots Association. Retrieved from http://www.capapilots.org/about-capa

Global Airlines-Is it Fair?

Government subsidies have always been a major part of the aviation industry.  Current long haul carriers receiving government subsidies include Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, and Emirates.  They have received a whopping $39 billion dollars in subsidies (Reed, 2015).  U.S. carriers have also received government subsidies in the past. From 1957 to 1984 Delta, United, and American Airlines were allocated about $938 million dollars and nearly every major american airline was bailed out after the September 11th terrorist attacks. The reason for the subsidies from 1957 to 1984 were to create an infrastructure and cultivate a starting industry.  This provided a way for air carriers to fly to small populations it would otherwise not go to.  (Investopedia, N.A.)

Foreign air carriers are receiving incredibly low interest rate loans on there newly purchased aircraft. A quasi-governement agency called the ECA acts as an intermediary between the Export-Import bank and the exporter, such as Boeing.  They figure out the loan situation. Under a new program foreign air carriers are allowed to acquire incredibly low interest rates before delivery and lock them in.  Foreign airlines are receiving interest rates below 2%. (Meecham, 2012)  I feel that foreign air carriers are being given to much of an advantage.  American carriers were subsidized, but only to start up the industry and infrastructure. Foreign carriers seem to be taking advantage of the system through treaties and low interest rate to have an immense advantage. They should have some help as they start there business, but not the amount that has been given. It's tough to start a airline with competing with all of the carriers that have been in the industry for a while, but they are receiving far to much of an advantage. It is not currently a fair industry.

References:

Investopedia. (N.A.) How do government subsidies affect the profitability of the airline industry? Investopedia. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/061515/how-do-government-subsidies-affect-profitability-airline-industry.asp

Mecham, M. (2012, August, 1). Ex-im bank uses new financing guarantee. Aviation Daily.  Retrieved from http://aviationweek.com/awin/ex-im-bank-uses-new-financing-guarantee

Reed, T. (2015, April 15). U.S. airlines have paid the government $250 billion- amazing some claim they are subsidized. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tedreed/2015/04/14/u-s-airlines-have-paid-the-government-250-billion-amazingly-some-claim-they-are-subsidized/

The Cargo Industry and Flight Duty Changes

The Colgan Air crash was a defining moment in aviation history and led to some major changes to flight duty and rest requirements.  The new requirements minimize pilot fatigue, but also increase costs to airlines.  According to the (FAA, 2011) the new requirements vary based on when the pilots day begins.  Also, it limits flight time to a maximum of eight or nine hours, with a ten hour minimum rest period.  Next, the new rule combats cumulative fatigue with 28 day and annual limits on flight time.  Even with all of these requirements the airlines and pilot must both believe the pilot is fit for duty.  When this rule came out cargo operations didn't want to copy because it would destroy operations.  Cargo carriers often are on demand 24 hours and it would cost them a lot of money.  So the Cargo operators ended up being exempt from the new regulations and just kept the old one, which is CFR 135.267.  (FAA, 1996) Under these rules Crew member's flight time could not be over 500 hours in any calendar year, 800 hours in any two consecutive calendar months, and 1,400 hours in any calendar year.  Also, this rule has much more lenient rest requirements, that in some cases may not be adequate.

Another reason I believe cargo operators were able to become exempt is because they do not carry the mass public.  So from the perspective of a citizen it wouldn't matter to them because they would not be in harms way from a cargo pilot with fatigue as much as an airline pilot.  Also, if a cost-benefit analysis was done I believe one would see that the cost to cargo operators would far out weigh the benefits of this rule.  Personally, I believe that all operators should use the new rule because all lives are equal.  Just because there are less souls in a cargo airliner, it does not mean that they are any less valuable.  If these new rules were to be enacted for cargo pilots this would be a very good thing.  The job would be much more enjoyable and much safer.  I would be more interested in a career flying cargo if these rules are to be put in place for there operations.

References:

FAA. (2011, December 21). Press release. FAA Issues Final Rule on Pilot Fatigue. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=13272

FAA. (1996, January 26). FAA. 14 CFR 135.267 Flight Time Limitations and Rest Requirements-Unscheduled One-and Two Pilot Crews. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/135.267