The Pilot Is There To Feed The Dog!

[UAL_TECH]

"The pilot is there to feed the dog,"

The Chinese pilots in the delegation, who are transitioning from flying old Russian-made Tupolevs to sophisticated Boeing and Airbus planes, expressed wonderment at the level of automation going on in the cockpits of U.S. carriers. Their response led Capt. Joseph Burns, director of flight standards and technology at United, to tell the Chinese that a modern jetliner can be flown by one pilot and a dog.

Ears perked up at a conference table when Burns' comment was translated into Chinese.

"The pilot is there to feed the dog," Burns explained matter-of-factly. "The dog's job is to bite the pilot if he tries to touch the controls."

The forum at United was part of a two-week program, called the Wright Brothers Partnership, sponsored by the U.S. government and private industry to promote collaboration between the U.S. and China.

Hey, don't bite my head off, it came from a 'pilot'!!!

Kind of a 'tough love' statement eh?

:mf_boff:

B) UT

 

[UAL_TECH]

Statement by US Airways ALPA

Statement by US Airways ALPA Regarding IAM Ratification of US Airways' Final Offer
Friday January 21, 9:14 pm ET


PITTSBURGH, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- US Airways MEC Chairman Captain Bill Pollock of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) today released the following statement:
We are pleased to learn that the three workgroups of the US Airways IAM
have voted to ratify the Company's final offer and to participate in US
Airways' Transformation Plan. From the beginning of this process, ALPA
has said that each employee group's participation was necessary for a
successful transformation. With all of these agreements now in place, US
Airways has achieved its most recent Transformation Plan goal of $1
billion in cost savings from its employees.

However, this milestone was not realized without much pain and sacrifice
from the employees. Our decision to provide management with such
significant cost cuts underscores every single employee's dedication to
the survival of our airline. These contributions, which were made after
serious deliberation by all US Airways unions, give US Airways the tools
to maintain and improve our operations and to emerge from bankruptcy as a
healthy competitor.

The pilots of US Airways, who have cumulatively provided nearly $7
billion in cost savings to US Airways through 2009, look forward to the
successful implementation of the Transformation Plan. The sizeable
investment we have made in our airline will continue to require our
involvement with the Plan every step of the way to ensure that our
sacrifices are properly applied.


ALPA is the world's oldest and largest pilot union, representing 64,000 pilots at 43 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Visit the ALPA Web site at http://www.alpa.org.

Apparently, we need more dogs (if that is possible)..........😛

B) UT