US Airways pilots took out an ad in the Philadelphia Inquirer that pretty much says it all from their point of view:

“US Airways management has begun pressuring your Captain to reduce fuel levels for your flight to save money.” — advertisement

8 senior pilots with US Airways have filed a complaint with the FAA saying the carrier is “making them fly with less fuel than they feel is safe”.

The FAA requires that pilots carry 45 minutes worth of “extra” fuel above what’s required for a normal flight (in case of delays or weather problems) but these 8 pilots asked for another 10 minutes or so, and then claimed their airline retaliated against them by forcing them to take “fuel conservation training.”

The pilots say, that’s intimidation. Keep reading.

A ceremony is taking place near Dallas today, in the smallish town of Grapevine, Texas.

A dedication ceremony — to honor the 33 airline crew members who died on September 11, 2001.

They deserve to be remembered — because they were magnificent. By all accounts (from personal cell phone calls, from final communications with headquarters), these men and women were professional, compassionate and caring til the end. I’m sure they were scared. Who on the face of this planet would not be? But they did their jobs, and they did what they could to take care of their passengers. That is a quiet sort of heroism, an every day gallantry that we so rarely recognize or praise — until a day like September 11th.

I think those lost crew members would have loved their memorial… not because of the beautiful sculpture that is its focal point…but because it was built by those who cherished them, and miss them every day. It began with a determined American flight attendant named Valerie Thompson who came up with the idea, and she was soon joined by many in the aviation community — unpaid volunteers, every one of them — including pilots and flight attendants who fly in and out of DFW and call little Grapevine home.

But it wasn’t just the aviation community. People with no connection to any airline, people who never even learned the names of the dead crew members felt a need to honor them, and they began sending in what they could, a dollar at a time. It is moving to learn that most of the money for the memorial came from these small donations, whatever people could spare, until finally there was enough.

And so they built their memorial. And we will not forget.

Like many airlines, United announced it will cut capacity — cutting back on the number of flights and grounding planes — which means, they don’t need all their pilots, so they’re furloughing 950 of them (that’s 15%).

That’s furloughed, not fired. Or is it? In theory, when times get better, they could return — just like those pilots furloughed after 9/11 — most of whom returned by last summer. Let’s see, that was 6 years later.

Ever been out of work for 6 years? Or had to find a brand new profession? Clearly, most of the affected United pilots (whose furloughs will begin in July and continue through next year) won’t be able to find jobs at other airlines — they’re in the same boat as United.

And how many will have hit retirement age — 65 — by the time United calls them back to work?

A very sad business.

It was bad enough United announced a new $15 fee for a first checked-bag.

Then there was today’s protest at the annual shareholder’s meeting: according the the Los Angeles Times, protesters included pilots, flight attendants and machinists who are tired of low morale and loss of jobs.

One protesting pilot said execs get “incentives” while their pay has been “slashed”.

“The management’s mantra has been ’shared sacrifice, shared rewards.’ We’ve sacrificed, but it seems executives are the only ones getting the rewards.” — Todd Daniels, United pilot

This is especially infuriating, since Continental’s top executives will go without pay for the rest of the year, due to belt-tightening there. United, meanwhile says incentives are needed to attract top execs.

Finally, Joe Brancatelli weighs in with a great read on United — the title? “Worst. Airline. Ever.”

An unsettling report from the Houston Chronicle this morning; it seems a Continental pilot said he saw a rocket shoot past his cockpit Monday — or, what he thought was a rocket — and others saw its “trail of smoke”.

This was about 8 miles north of Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport; the plane was heading to Cleveland (and indeed got to Cleveland, without incident or injury).

An FAA spokesman said, they don’t know for sure what the thing was, but have suggested it could be a hobbyist’s model rocket (yes, those things can and do reach incredible altitudes).

Meantime, the FBI is investigating; I’ll let you know if I hear more.

Apparently some pilots don’t think the airlines are carrying enough extra jet fuel, and according to a report in USA Today, that’s raising concern among pilots.

We know why airlines have been reducing the amount of spare fuel they carry; the less “weight” planes carry, the less jet fuel they’ll burn, and in these days of crazy fuel prices, that’s a necessity. The question is, are they going too far?

On Friday, I spoke with James J. Ballough, Director, Flight Standards Service with the FAA, about this story.

Now, you should know that, according to USA Today, some pilots (who complained anonymously) said the reductions have meant delays and diversions. But Ballough has a different take. Keep reading.

US Airways is keeping mum, but CNN is reporting that a pilot who accidentally fired his handgun in midflight last month will be axed. That’s per a spokesman for the Federal Flight Deck Officers Association (and here’s their website); the pilot is a member of the group.

You may recall that the pilot was legally allowed to have that gun and he had been trained in its proper use. It just wasn’t supposed to go off like that. No one was hurt in the March incident, but this could have been a real tragedy.

I don’t mind that some pilots are armed, and I know accidents happen. But some accidents are unforgivable. That wasn’t the case here, but I sure don’t want to read about similar incidents in the future…

UPDATE: The pilot has been taken off flight duty. Still unclear what happened, but an investigation is underway to see if the pilot was “mishandling” the gun.

Here’s a scary story that I hadn’t heard about (but Gadling did):

Over the weekend, a gun belonging to a US Airways pilot went off in the cockpit.

Nobody was hurt, and the plane landed safely.

Thank goodness.

I’ve got more details on that (including my thoughts on what COULD have happened), but I’d like to hear your comments, too. Should we have armed pilots? Keep reading…

An investigation is still underway.

So not all the facts are in.

But here’s what we do know (and it’s not pretty)…

Keep reading.

Airline merger mania continues as the potential of a Delta/Northwest deal grows. Other legacy carriers such as United Airlines and Continental airlines could also be involved, and while Continental has stated it would prefer to remain independent, pilots for the airline know that might not be an option.

In order to prepare themselves for a possible merger, the Continental pilots union has readied their Strategic Merger and Acquisition Response Team (”SMART”).

Keep reading to see how the pilots union can affect the merger process, and how these potential mergers can impact travelers…

I just read a thoughtful article by a surgeon at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, who said doctors could learn a LOT…from pilots!

Dr. Gerald Healy suggests pilots (like doctors) have long been perceived as authoritarian leaders (and, presumably, woe to anyone who questions their decisions). But in the 70’s, airlines switched to a “leadership/team training” approach that protected pilot authority while allowing others to voice their concerns; according to Healey, it resulted in greater overall safety.

The doctor claims these training methods work in the surgical suite, as well: in his department, he says, “our medical error rates have dropped to zero after airline pilots taught us team training.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on this.

No, don’t panic — our Grumpy Santa didn’t actually fly the plane, but the terrific crew at Southwest did let him sit in the cockpit, and Santa enjoyed every minute of it.

Check out the video here, and be sure to visit Santa’s blog often; he’s helping us highlight the good and the bad in today’s airline industry–while spreading a little cheer along the way.

Note: Check out what appears to be a piece of the plane that’s handed to the pilot by a member of the ground crew; notice how the pilot says, “Whooow! That wouldn’t have been good!” This, of course, interrupts Santa’s fantasy as he sits in the cockpit and stares longingly into the Heads Up Display(and be sure to click that on and see for yourself!)

Priceless Moment: The pilot confirms that, yes, there actually ISa blowup autopilot…remember, “Airplane!”??

A quote from the movie: “There’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you’ll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?” — Airplane (The Movie) 1980

I can’t say I’m with the International Transport Association (ITA) on this one; according to this article from the Wall St. Journal, the ITA (which represents major airlines worldwide) says there is a “looming crisis” because of a lack of pilots.

Okay, fair enough.

What I’m not crazy about, is their solution to this crisis. Maybe you’ll find it troublesome, too.

UPDATE: According to a story in the Nov. 8 edition of USA TODAY, Frontier Airlines has admitted that 2-of its pilots fell asleep on the job, during a flight from Baltimore to Denver in 2004.

Last week, NASA said they would not release information from the National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service survey, an in depth air travel safety study they conducted (but never fully completed). This week, NASA reversed their stance and decided to release their findings from the study.

It did not take long for some very serious safety concerns to surface.

Imagine if our government spent $8.5-million on a safety project that found problems with U.S. air travel (problems like near-collisions and runway interference)…and then, they decided NOT to release this information.

Crazy, huh? But that’s exactly what has happened.

This safety project was overseen, then dumped, by NASA (yes, the space agency). As part of this project, NASA’s team interviewed 24,000 pilots. And according to the Associated Press, these pilots told NASA they were involved in many more dangerous incidents than reflected in FAA numbers.

But NASA never released any of this data; according to Thomas S. Luedtke, a senior NASA official, the information is being withheld essentially for our protection, because it”could materially affect the public confidence in…the air carriers and general aviation companies.”

Personally, my confidence is already a little shaken, just by the fact that this information is not being released. A congressman from North Carolina has said, “There is a faint odor about it all.” Faint? Odor? Let’s speak English: this stinks!

Seems like I’ve been going on a lot lately about how important it is to be prepared for Thanksgiving travel. I know some people see it as a gloom and doom approach to things, but I really am just trying to make flying as painless as possible for masses that will be heading home for the holidays. With so many people traveling, delays are just far more likely to occur…