Two tier safety system in airlines: Duh, do you think?

Being the wife of an airline captain for the largest airline in the world, this was pretty much a no brainer for those inside the industry. We’ve been saying it for years - since deregulation, in fact - that the FAA was not doing its job and was acting merely a hand maiden to corporate interests as they flew fast and easy throught the skies.

Safety was one thing when it was about the ‘legacy’ carriers who, in years past, carried the vast bulk of airline passengers. However, it was quite another thing after 1978, when the ‘commuter’ airlines began carrying more and more of the passengers on domestic routes within the United States.

But government regulation is a bad thing…isn’t it?

Watch this and decide for yourself … and this pretty much nails it. As airline people, we didn’t spot any factual errors in this report.

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Miles O'Brien nails it: Colgan crash and deregulation

In his usual unflinching way, veteran reporter and pilot Miles O’Brien takes a hard look at the causes of Colgan/Continental Flight 3407 that crashed in Buffalo, New York.

Here is an excerpt:

When the wreckage of Colgan/Continental Flight 3407 was still smoldering near Buffalo, I blogged that aircraft icing was a likely potential cause of the crash. Turns out, it was just icing on the cake - a cake that has been in the oven for more than thirty years now.

It was October 24, 1978 when President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act.

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