Patrick,

I always enjoy your column, but have to take issue with the following:

You already know what I think, so let's ask somebody else. "I spent 80 hours aboard company jets last month," says Michael [surname withheld], a senior Northwest first officer. "Do you think I'd have done that if I were worried about the state of our aircraft? It's not an easy time right now, but with increased vigilance we're able to keep our standards adequately high."

I too had an airline career cut short by bankruptcy. In fact, it was at the carrier mentioned in your previous column that had a crash in Saudi Arabia. A crash caused by, among other things, underinflated tires, and falsified documents that at least one Flight Deck member knew about. In fact, the investigation revealed that the aircraft flew in an unairworthy condition for up to a week prior to the crash. Flown by Pilots under pressure to meet a schedule. I've heard this "I wouldn't fly if I didn't think it was safe" rationalization before many times over, but it doesn't always wash.

Like all things in life, it's hard to paint everything with one brush. Just as I wouldn't say that the entire industry is unsafe, we both know that there are those carriers out there that are questionable. In my flying days, I met many pilots who although they'd say they wouldn't fly if they didn't think it was safe, turn around and fly against their will because they were threatened with job loss if they don't get that airplane from point A to point B. They weren't happy about it, but at least they still thought they'd have a pension. Fortunately, at my carrier there were a few guys who would say "go ahead and fire me", but there'd just be someone else called who'd take the flight.

In fact, a good friend of mine (Chief Pilot) just quit his job because that carrier is (in his words) "an accident waiting to happen". The juniors who want to build hours are only too happy to do whatever the boss tells 'em to. As you're no doubt aware, in an industry where jobs are hard to find, rocking the boat is not something alot of employees want to do.

I can understand why you want your readers to think that the entire industry is staffed by nothing but highly trained, diligent, competent professionals whose sole interest is safety, as well as adequate inspection, but we both know this is not the case everywhere.