Narrative:

I would like to express my concern with the operations at my airline. I have multiple reasons for concern that will explain each to the best of my ability. 1) the first officers at my air carrier are not given charts. This is just asking for an accident and to a greater extent; a violation. Let's assume that a flight crew is conducting an arrival into an airport. Say that the captain is the pilot flying. This means that the first officer is the one who has the charts. The captain has to ask the first officer about the proper course to be following on the arrival. If the first officer reads or interprets one thing incorrectly on the chart; what chance is there for anybody to double check or question what the first officer is seeing? There is none. By allowing my air carrier to operate with one set of charts in the cockpit; the FAA has allowed one of the major methods of checks and balances in the cockpit to be destroyed. Why have a two person crew if one person is not even allowed to see what is going on? This is simply negligent on the part of the FAA but from what I've heard in the past; reports like this have been filed and the FAA came down on the pilots and not the company. Something has to change here. 2) cancellation pay...this is a major safety issue. Again; the FAA is most likely to come down on the pilots for a lack of professionalism but unfortunately; the FAA is once again negligent in their duty to ensure safe air travel to the public. Let's say that pilot a earns $16;000 per year. Pilot a is flying an airplane and discovers a problem with the airplane that should technically ground the airplane; but knows that if the airplane is grounded; he/she will not get paid for that canceled flight. The pilot; a human being with bills to pay; may be very much inclined to disregard the safety rules and fly that airplane while it's broken just so that he/she can afford to live. Now; the FAA really shouldn't have any business getting involved with pilot contracts; but if you consider the government's involvement through the railway labor act and the fact that pilots have no way to negotiate a fair contract; I think the FAA has a responsibility to guarantee pilots cancellation pay to ensure safety. I can assure you that this scenario is a daily event at my airline because if pilots didn't do this; they wouldn't be able to afford to live. This is a safety issue. This is a safety issue that has been brought to the attention to the FAA in the past but has been ignored or has been used to punish pilots. 3) maintenance cuts corners whenever possible and the pilots are the ones hung out to dry when something has been signed off by a maintenance technician. If pilots are supposed to be mechanics as well; then say so. Don't punish pilots for flying an airplane that has been signed off by maintenance when there is no possible way for a pilot to know whether an airplane is broken or not. For example; I have heard of a recent situation where a pilot ferried a plane that was signed off by maintenance and then was issued an letter of investigation for flying an airplane with a defective compressor or turbine blade inside the engine. There is not any way to preflight that sort of thing but the pilot is blamed. Pilots are providing service and saving lives daily. We can do a thousand things right but as soon as we do one thing wrong; the FAA is all over us issuing violations. The system is broken and nobody seems to care. This is my call for change and some common sense in the approach to aviation safety. Please quit ignoring these calls for help and do something about the problems.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier First Officer questions his company policy and FAA allowance of carrying one set of approach charts. Also questioned are no pay for flight cancellations and crew responsibility for faulty maintenance actions.

Narrative: I would like to express my concern with the operations at my airline. I have multiple reasons for concern that will explain each to the best of my ability. 1) The First Officers at my air carrier are not given charts. This is just asking for an accident and to a greater extent; a violation. Let's assume that a flight crew is conducting an arrival into an airport. Say that the Captain is the pilot flying. This means that the First Officer is the one who has the charts. The Captain has to ask the First Officer about the proper course to be following on the arrival. If the First Officer reads or interprets one thing incorrectly on the chart; what chance is there for anybody to double check or question what the First Officer is seeing? There is none. By allowing my air carrier to operate with one set of charts in the cockpit; the FAA has allowed one of the major methods of checks and balances in the cockpit to be destroyed. Why have a two person crew if one person is not even allowed to see what is going on? This is simply negligent on the part of the FAA but from what I've heard in the past; reports like this have been filed and the FAA came down on the pilots and not the company. Something has to change here. 2) Cancellation pay...this is a major safety issue. Again; the FAA is most likely to come down on the pilots for a lack of professionalism but unfortunately; the FAA is once again negligent in their duty to ensure safe air travel to the public. Let's say that pilot A earns $16;000 per year. Pilot A is flying an airplane and discovers a problem with the airplane that should technically ground the airplane; but knows that if the airplane is grounded; he/she will not get paid for that canceled flight. The pilot; a human being with bills to pay; may be very much inclined to disregard the safety rules and fly that airplane while it's broken just so that he/she can afford to live. Now; the FAA really shouldn't have any business getting involved with pilot contracts; but if you consider the government's involvement through the railway labor act and the fact that pilots have no way to negotiate a fair contract; I think the FAA has a responsibility to guarantee pilots cancellation pay to ensure safety. I can assure you that this scenario is a daily event at my airline because if pilots didn't do this; they wouldn't be able to afford to live. This is a safety issue. This is a safety issue that has been brought to the attention to the FAA in the past but has been ignored or has been used to punish pilots. 3) Maintenance cuts corners whenever possible and the pilots are the ones hung out to dry when something has been signed off by a maintenance technician. If pilots are supposed to be mechanics as well; then say so. Don't punish pilots for flying an airplane that has been signed off by maintenance when there is no possible way for a pilot to know whether an airplane is broken or not. For example; I have heard of a recent situation where a pilot ferried a plane that was signed off by maintenance and then was issued an letter of investigation for flying an airplane with a defective compressor or turbine blade inside the engine. There is not any way to preflight that sort of thing but the pilot is blamed. Pilots are providing service and saving lives daily. We can do a thousand things right but as soon as we do one thing wrong; the FAA is all over us issuing violations. The system is broken and nobody seems to care. This is my call for change and some common sense in the approach to aviation safety. Please quit ignoring these calls for help and do something about the problems.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.