On A More Serious Subject

At the hearing by the NTSB yesterday on the crash of a Colgan Air plane (Continental Commuter) in upstate NY some disturbing facts were publicly revealed. The failed flight tests and non-reporting by the pilot Marvin Renslow are bad enough, but the commuting distances of the pilot and co-pilot are just absurd. Renslow commuted to NJ from his home in Lutz, Fl. and the co-pilot commuted from her home in Seattle, Wa. to NJ. I mean really by the time they got to work they had to be almost dead! Try getting to the airport, going through security, waiting and waiting, flying hours in a cramped tiny little seat and then starting your work day! It is against the rules to sleep in the pilot's lounge. The reason given for the long commutes? They couldn't afford to live in NY or NJ!!! WTF! Renslow started at Colgan Air in 2005 as a first officer at $19,000 a year. WHAT? Your pilot on a commuter airline is about 43 years old with a wife and kids and is making less than $20K a year? The co-pilot, Rebecca Shaw, lived with her parents in Seattle and commuted to work in Newark, NJ. She earned $16,000 a year! How can that be? I think I will never fly a commuter airline again. The lives of the passengers and those on the ground are being entrusted to two people who collectively make less than $35,000 a year and commute more than 6,700 miles before they start work! Better to rent a car, ride a bike, walk or make a phone call.