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CNN Live At Daybreak

American Airlines Pilot Turns Whistle Blower

Aired July 04, 2001 - 08:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, an American Airlines pilot says his company is jeopardizing safety. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Captain Rich Rubin's complaint. He claims that American is reducing the number of pilots on its daily flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Honolulu. And Captain Rubin joins us now from Dallas.

Captain Rubin, thanks for being here.

RICH RUBIN, AMERICAN AIRLINES CAPTAIN: My pleasure. Good morning and happy Independence Day.

MCEDWARDS: Thank you and same to you. So there used to be a captain, a first officer and a relief pilot on this route. And then in May, the airline said it would, what, get rid of the relief pilot?

RUBIN: That's correct. On June 15, American removed the relief pilots from our Dallas to Honolulu and Maui flights.

MCEDWARDS: And what's wrong with that, in your view?

RUBIN: Well, that relief pilot provides a significant safety factor, especially for the flight from Hawaii back to Dallas, which takes place at night, a time of the day that fatigue is a significant penalty during those operations.

MCEDWARDS: Now, what do the rules say about that, though?

RUBIN: Well, the rules are that any flight that is in excess of eight hours of flight time and less than 12 hours has to be augmented with at least one additional crew member to provide in-flight rest breaks.

MCEDWARDS: Now, I just want to let people know that we did ask a member from the company, American Airlines, to be here. They could not, but did issue a statement. And I'd like to read that now.

Captain Rubin, you can listen along.

American Airlines says that: "American adjusted its crew compliment on the Dallas/Fort Worth-Honolulu flights because of the seasonal changes in the prevailing winds that allow each segment of the round-trip to be flown in less than the eight hours during the summer months. During the fall, winter and spring months, American augments the crew with a relief pilot. The flight times on this route are adjusted twice each year because the prevailing wind conditions affect the flight time. The scheduling practice is in keeping with Federal Aviation regulations."

So, Captain Rubin, are they within the guidelines?

RUBIN: Well, in this case, they did not on the start-up date that this flight occurred on June 15 to launch this new policy of removing that relief pilot. The prior 14 days, the flights exceeded eight hours 79 percent of the time, 11 out of 14 days. And subsequently, the flights exceeded 53 percent of the time.

Now, the FAA regulations require flight and duty limits predicated on realistic scheduling. In this case, American essentially conducted an experiment to try to see if they could make it happen. And I'm also taking great issue to the way they launched that flight. When the crew signed in, they were given a flight plan that exceeded eight hours. And when they looked at that, they requested a relief pilot according to the law.

And shortly thereafter, the company generated what I considered to be a bogus flight plan that had the crew flying at a very low altitude, 26,000 feet, at a very high rate of speed, at Mach .835. And, unfortunately, going to Hawaii at 26,000 feet, you don't get those advisories of clear air turbulence, for example, because the commercial traffic is flying at higher altitudes. So the combination of that high airspeed and the low altitude without the advisories would have put the passengers and crew at risk.

MCEDWARDS: And do you feel that -- you've sort of beaten me to my next question, but I want you to have a chance to say clearly whether you think passengers have been put at risk because of this policy.

RUBIN: I do. I certainly do. You know, whether or not we fly -- if we fly without a relief pilot, we're going to get paid or -- as much as we would be paid if we flew fatigued. The carrier is going to be able to sell that seat that would normally be provided for crew rest purposes. The people that really have the short end of the stick are our passengers because of not having that relief pilot to provide that extra safety net.

Now, I've got to say one other thing. American is contending that the practice is common in the industry when that is not true. United augments all their flights across the Atlantic, and, in fact, some of their flights across the Pacific. They do that voluntarily, as does USAir and most of the Delta flights. American is just sticking to this law.

But in the way they applied it in Hawaii, they didn't even comply with that. And that's why I've blown the whistle, because the real stakeholders are our passengers. And we just can't be quiet. I can't be quiet about this any longer, because management is not supporting us.

MCEDWARDS: All right, Captain Rich Rubin, thank you very much for your time this morning. We've got to leave it there. Thanks very much.

RUBIN: My pleasure.

And again, happy Independence Day to everybody.

MCEDWARDS: You too.

And as we mentioned, the FAA is investigating this complaint. And we'll keep you up-to-date, of course, on how that story plays out.

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