This has been on my mind for several weeks and I just have to say something.
On Jan. 15 of this year, Charles “Sully†Sullenberger gently glided his engine-failed A320 aircraft to a water landing on the icy Hudson just outside of New York City. Perhaps you were living in an igloo on some wild outpost in Alaska or Siberia if you do not know about this heroic moment in aviation history. We all agree it took great piloting and cool nerves to accomplish this feat. Most professional pilots you talk to say he was just doing his job. So what bothers me about this?
Well, in a subsequent hearing before the House Aviation Subcommittee, Captain Sullenberger testified that he and other airline pilots like him were not making an adequate income. He indicated that most airline pilots would not recommend their profession to their children. Sully blamed deregulation in the 1970s and airline piranha management fishing expeditions after 9/11 for the cut in pay he took to both his salary and pension. He indicated he has had to work two jobs, seven days a week, to maintain his “middle class†standard of living.
I can’t blame Sully for taking advantage of the national spotlight to promote his profession. But really, are airline pilots that underpaid and overutilized to the point where young people are not pursuing that career? I don’t think so.
What I am thinking about are all the maintenance heroes that do their job each and every day in all kinds of conditions and pressures. Where are their heroes to promote their profession? Life is not fair and certainly this is such an instance. This is why I continue to promote the idea of an association to represent the profession – a national voice so that the rest will know of the education, skills, and accountability it takes to be a professional aviation maintenance technician.
