WASHINGTON — A Senate aviation panel on Thursday questioned executives from Continental Airlines and Colgan Air about the living conditions of pilots, including what one senator described as food-stamp-level pay and controversial housing known as crash pads.
Both airlines are under intense scrutiny by Congress for safety practices following the Feb. 12 crash of Continental Flight 3407 in Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 50. Colgan, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines, provided the flight crew and the aircraft under a contract with Continental. The accident has drawn attention to regional pilots’ $20,000 annual starting salaries, work rules, training, commuting and the impact of economic pressures on regional carriers’ flight safety.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who chairs the Senate subcommittee on aviation, called the hearing, the panel’s third on regional airline safety issues this year.
Responding to a question about pay practices, Phil Trenary, Pinnacle’s president and chief executive, said regional pilot pay is “very much the same” as it was 10 or 20 years ago.
But he added, “I urge you please do not ever equate professionalism and competence with pay. … Some make over $100,000, some make less than that. They are all professionals.”
Trenary also said compensation is based on what other regional airlines are paying and is negotiated with airline unions.
Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., said the current pay level for regional pilots means that they could “put their family on food stamps.” He said he was puzzled by the industry’s business model.
“My concern from a safety standpoint is that it’s not only cheaper — but it is on the cheap. There is a difference,” Johanns said.
Throughout the hearing, Dorgan said he was troubled that larger carriers such as Continental might not play a sufficient role in ensuring that their regional partners maintain high safety standards.
“If the network carrier decides to put their colors and their brand and their logo on the fuselage, what is their responsibility?” he asked.
Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, asked whether there were contractual requirements that called for larger airlines to routinely conduct inspections of their regional partners. The witnesses said they didn’t know of such requirements.
The executives said the responsibility to regulate regional air carrier safety should remain with the Federal Aviation Administration, otherwise carriers with contracts from multiple airlines could face different requirements from each airline. They said they are involved in multiple FAA safety programs.
The Washington Post published a story Tuesday that described how some pilots share “crash pads” near their duty stations to save money and have a place to rest between flights. Some have complained that they can’t afford to move their families to live near airports where they work. Asked by Dorgan about the practice, the airline executives repeatedly said that where pilots live is their own “lifestyle decision.”
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