A US pilot alleged that the "inhumane amount" of pressure pilots are under as a result of the growing statewide pilot shortage renders US aircraft unsafe for passengers.
According to Dennis Tajer, a representative for the Texas-based pilots union Allied Pilots Association, American travelers ought to be "concerned" about their safety because "there is a problem here."
Anger among pilots and employees in the nation's struggling airline industry has recently flared out on a national scale, raising new fears in the travel industry.
Since the previous week, thousands of flights had been canceled or faced lengthy delays as airlines struggled to fulfill the demand for travel in the wake of millions of job losses, buyouts during the Covid epidemic, and thousands of retirements.
In order to draw attention to difficulties with pilot tiredness, stress, and stagnant contract discussions, more than 1,300 Southwest Airlines pilots picketed on Tuesday in Dallas, Texas.
Mr. Tajer said: "They need to be concerned because I'm on TV as a spokesperson for our union stating, there's a problem here."
He issued an urgent warning and urged the FAA should act against airlines that attempt to fly more aircraft than they are truly capable of flying and that build up "schedules to an inhumane level."
In the end, he claimed, the sector was "letting down our passengers and wasting the money of our investors."
He continued, "It's got to end.”
Airlines have attributed the shortfall to an increase in travel as a result of the recent drop in Covid infection rates, which has led many Americans to book travel for the first time since the pandemic began.
Industry experts claimed that pilots' anxiety has been exacerbated by their low pay, unfavorable working conditions, and almost daily flight reassignments.
Nearly 30% of the airline's pilots are transferred every day, including on lengthy flights, according to Capt. Casey A. Murray, a pilot and head of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association. This leaves the pilots feeling overwhelmed.
He warned, "If you're going to keep abusing us, you're going to run out of personnel."
