Word: galipault
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...marks. One British Airways captain, referring to the 747's ability to tolerate errors, calls the plane "the most forgiving thing that flies." Experts are concerned, though, that some carriers may be flying their aircraft too long. "The problem of an aging fleet is a constant one," says John Galipault, president of the Aviation Safety Institute, an Ohio-based consumer watchdog group. "Planes are like people--you have to know when to retire them...
...There are not enough controllers, and too many of them have a low experience level," claims John Galipault, president of the Aviation Safety Institute, a private foundation in Ohio. The number of controllers is down from 16,300 to 14,700 since President Reagan fired striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) in 1981; more significantly, only 62% of them are qualified at "full performance level," vs. 80% before the strike. United Airlines Captain Mel Hoagland declares bluntly, "The air-traffic-control system is at the ragged edge of coming unraveled for lack of fully qualified controllers...
...tend to defer repairs on items that do not require immediate grounding of a plane. One pilot admitted that he flew his jet even though in his cockpit 14 red tags were hanging from parts on which needed maintenance work had been deferred. While this may be legal, John Galipault of the Aviation Safety Institute insists that one airline assigns mechanics to fly in what repairmen call "hangar queens," airplanes that develop frequent problems. When a minor ailment arises, the flying mechanic "signs off" on the paperwork needed to permit the plane to keep operating, even though no repair...
...pressure to keep the multimillion-dollar jets and their paying passengers moving is high at most airlines. Contends Galipault: "People in this business are asked or told to do things they know are not only wrong but dangerous. Then they have to ask themselves whether to sell out and save their job or risk it for what they know is right and safe." For too many, the choice appears to be difficult...
...alert as the months go by. "I have to ask myself, 'How long can I do this?' " concedes Harry Burke, a Los Angeles controller. Admits a supervisor in Oakland: "It's just not realistic to think this can go on for two years." Safety Expert John Galipault, who heads Ohio's nonprofit Air Safety Institute, takes a cataclysmic view of how long the current system will last: "Until there's a midair collision...