It was Boeing pushing the iPad training. They didn't want their customers to have to re-rate their pilots from an NG.

(Written on 2020/01/24)(Permalink)

If it were a ‘software glitch’ it wouldn’t be a big deal. It’s been a pretty complete breakdown of the whole system. A manufacturer wanting airframes to customers at whatever cost they see fit, a regulator too far out of the loop, airlines that have meat lines for training... That is what aviation has come to.

(Written on 2020/01/19)(Permalink)

March 10, 2019. Did I sleep for a year some place? What’s going on? The regulators haven’t had a proper look at the plane since the ‘60s. Now the books are wide open (hopefully). That’s not a five minute exercise. The CG has moved significantly. That’s kind of a big deal. People forget the 737 was certified as a ~100 seat airliner that has since grown to the capacity of a 707 on the same ticket.

(Written on 2020/01/17)(Permalink)

The bit I can’t work out is that after initially having the plane try to kill them, it appears that after regaining complete control of the aircraft again the crew didn’t think it prudent to go home. Why not? I’m going to guess fear for their jobs. Yep, corporate Boeing issues look like the root of the issue. However a decision was made to continue a flight that should not have been. That will all get forgotten, leaving another simmering issue that will kill people long after Max (though not the root cause) is fixed. Plenty of incidents are avoided because someone in the chain made a better decision. Sadly, it appears the only way this whole sorry mess was going to come to a head was the way it did...

(Written on 2020/01/17)(Permalink)

Slightly ironic, given it tends to be the right that is all about freedom to act as you choose, freedom from regulation blah blah blah.

(Written on 2020/01/04)(Permalink)

In case you hadn't noticed, good 'mainstream' journalism died some time ago. Not that they were ever particularly good with aviation related stuff anyway.

(Written on 2019/12/30)(Permalink)

It got down-voted to death, but the sad thing is the one ‘useful’ crumb in the post is right - it is how the corporate world works. Until that changes, the world will continue to see this sort of bs carry on. Joe on the street might get six weeks pay to go quietly, or paid out the rest of the shift, not taken care of for life. The dumb thing is the share price hasn’t tanked. That seems to be the only message that means anything any more. It’s sad...

(Written on 2019/12/28)(Permalink)

Agreed. I was tailoring my post to an American-centric audience, which the OP appears to be.

(Written on 2019/12/27)(Permalink)

That’s ultimately counterproductive to the manufacturers, so they won’t do it. They could easily mandate minimum standards before sale. But that costs money in auditing and lost sales to those who don’t measure up. Corruption is rife in some parts (and probably more than we might like to think), so relying on regulators isn’t reliable, and that doesn’t count the regulators that have had their funding steadily rolled back to the point of ineffectiveness. The others have addressed the practicality of finding flight crews with enough experience to keep the routes crewed. I’m guessing it would put downward pressure on regional crews as they’d be forced to stay longer before moving to the mainlines. That probably won’t help the industry as a whole.

(Written on 2019/12/25)(Permalink)

And it’s on the safety card that ‘everyone reads’

(Written on 2019/12/20)(Permalink)