Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina is proposing a bill called the “Pilot Professionalism Assurance Act.” This bill would let airlines review cockpit recordings at liberty. As of right now, under current labor laws, airlines can only review cockpit recordings if there has been an accident or major incident.
DeMint wants the airlines to have the ability to review recordings to “to evaluate or monitor the judgment or performance of an individual pilot.” Clearly, this is in the wake of the Northwest flight that overshot its destination by 150 miles.
Sooooo … let’s think about this one. While those pilots are in the cockpit (Ooops! Am I supposed to say “flight deck?”) they are working for and being paid by the airline. If something goes wrong it is the airline that will pay … perhaps in the millions. Other employers monitor the business conversations of their employees. You’ve all heard the announcement that says “for quality assurance, this conversation may be monitored” when you call some businesses. So what’s the big deal?
On the other hand … you have no idea how boring these cross-country flights can be. Within minutes after takeoff these pilots hand over the actual flying of the aircraft to the autopilot. If there’s a change in the flight plan they’ll have to enter it into a computer. Every once in a while they’ll have to dial in a new radio frequency and introduce themselves to some controller. So there is a lot of time for casual conversation … discussions of company policy matters; family problems; vacations; girlfriends …and, of course, flight attendants. Why would the airline need to have access to those communications?
Hard one to figure out, isn’t it?
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