Airline Industry Meeting to Focus on Safety
Friday, June 12th, 2009
Airlines have been making the news recently and not for good reasons. There have been several highly publicized wrecks and problems associated with the airline industry. The United States Government is looking into different aspects of the airline industry to try and calm the nerves of travelers.
One of the places that the government is inspecting is the pilot training programs offered at regional airlines. The Crash of a regional airliner in New York in February has raised concerns for the amount of training and quality of training that new pilots are receiving.
Not only will the regional programs be under the microscope but the Transportation Secretary and the Federal Aviation Administrator both said that they will be meeting with industry officials from all levels. The goal is to find a way to improve and ensure pilot training, the procedures for the cockpit and other safety issues.
The airline industry has faced several issues in the last year that has caused profits to plummet. It is important for the health of the industry that consumers see airlines as the being safe and secure.
Similar meetings were held a couple of years back to deal with the issue of runway safety. The result was a substantial decrease in dangerous runway incidents. Safety is one of the top priorities for the industry and for the United States Government. The meeting will be an important step towards reaching the safety standards that can help reduce future troubles.
The crash of Continental Express Flight 3407 killed all the passengers and employees onboard the plane and also killed one man on the ground. It has been reported that the captain may not have been trained to handle the cockpit system and that the co-pilot had expressed her own concern over her lack of experience in icy weather.