Blood on Whose Hands?
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Somewhere deep in the bowels of your favorite news source you might have noticed an alarming headline:
Yes, in the renewal of the massive FAA budget appropriation, Kristen Sinema has held up passage with a request to alter pilot training requirements.
If you read most articles on the squabble, you would see it is a classic case of greedy corporatism at the expense of public safety. Senator takes money from the airlines and proceeds to boost their profits by eliminating critical safety regulations. It’s an outrage! People will die - as Senator Duckworth makes clear!
Anytime you hear such dramatic accusations from politicians, your BS meter should be going off. Apocalyptic rhetoric is a weapon meant to end debate and avoid the hard work of persuasion. And both sides make heavy use of the tactic: “groomers” taking our kids or “the new Jim Crow” in our voting laws or “blood on your hands” (a common one!) for opening schools during Covid. The other side is out to kill you! Be skeptical.
And, yes, in this case there are a few more facts to challenge the allegation.
The US increased pilot training requirements from 250 hours to 1500 hours over a decade ago. Europe requires 500 hours and it just so happens their safety record is slightly better than ours (both are crazy safe). In fact, there is no, nor has there ever been any evidence that 1500 hours improves performance. It was established somewhat arbitrarily after a pilot error crashed a plane in 2009. The pilot had well over 1500 hours, but, you know, something had to be done!
Of course, more training can’t hurt…so why not 1500? Heck why not 5000 hours?
Sinema is not even asking to reduce the amount of training, but allowing 250 of those hours to be done on flight simulators. Experts question the 1500 rule to begin with, but most think simulator training is superior as it puts pilots in tough situations they will simply not get with most real world experience. And getting better at complex situations is how you actually save lives.
Still outraged?
There’s more. A hard to achieve experience requirement adds big hurdles for new pilots. And, as expected, we have a massive shortage. These are great jobs accessible to many people committed to putting in the time and hard work - but they are being blocked by arbitrary restrictions. The result: a big tax that limits supply to the benefit of current pilots. Salaries for experienced pilots just hit $700,000! As you might have guessed: The pilots union gave over $4 million to politicians last year, including Duckworth.
And, of course, all this has real impacts for the public: more canceled flights, higher fares and less service. Have you noticed?
Now, clearly no one really cares about this minor squabble in the grand scheme of things. Surely this is the first you have heard of it. But it is emblematic of our current politics - for debates big and small. Complex issues reduced to bumper stickers of moral righteousness. Politicians “solving” problems with no regard to real world trade-offs. Unnecessary rules creeping into our economy with serious costs imposed on all. Heated rhetoric that shuts off debate. A press unwilling to really dig into the nuanced points that might upset their partisan audience.
If we want to really solve problems and institute ideas that actually improve lives, we need the courage of leaders to push back on bad ideas despite their intuitive appeal. And we need a press willing to dig into the details. Not an easy task when labeled a murderer for doing it!
In this case, I applaud Sinema - with no fear of blood on my hands.
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