Exhausted, Underpaid Airline Pilots Talk To The Media

Jen Chung

Published May 17, 2009

Modified May 17, 2009

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Jen Chung

Published May 17, 2009

Modified May 17, 2009

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In the wake of the NTSB's hearings about the fatal Flight 3407 that crashed in Buffalo, more attention is being drawn on low pilot pay and their commutes. Flight 3407's captain commuted from Tampa to Newark while the co-pilot (who only made $16,000/year) commuted from Seattle. One young pilot tells the NY Times he makes $25,000/year as a co-pilot and is $100,000 in debt from training. One senior pilot said he was lucky to get 4.5 hours of sleep at a hotel, because others can't afford hotel rooms or even "crash pads" listed on Craigslist. A former regional pilot (now a safety consultant) said, "I know a guy who bought a car that barely ran and parked it in the employee lot at his base airport, and slept in his car six or seven times a month." And NY-based (but lives in Boston) pilot Alex LaPointe spoke to the Daily News, "Probably at least once a trip you find yourself nodding off just 'cause there's some days you don't get enough sleep...If you spend an extra three or four hours commuting on top of a 14-hour duty day, you can easily go 18, 20 hours of being up. It cuts into your rest. It certainly fatigues you."

Tagged

airline pilot

buffalo

Flight 3407

pilot commute

pilot pay

underpaid