the friendly skies

(photo by m. trombly)

quote of the day

john cole @ balloon juice:

why the hell do we even make pilots go through security screening in the first place? if they want to bring a plane down, they don't need nail clippers, a lighter, four ounces of hand lotion, or the rest of the stupid shit the TSA morons confiscate from the rest of us. all they need to do to bring a plane down is to ... point it down.

this was the co-pilot

... not the flight attendant.

shaw, 24, had worked for colgan air of manassas, va., which operated the flight for continental, for 13 months, flying 774 hours in her first year. colgan pays its beginning first officers $21 an hour, which means she would have earned $16,254 that year, although she could have earned more if she worked more hours, said roger cox, an ntsb aviation safety expert. in questioning colgan officials, cox suggested that shaw was commuting from her home near seattle because she couldn't afford to live in the new york metropolitan area on her salary. she had a second job in a coffee shop when first hired. — "pilots' low pay, long commutes probed in air crash" (ap)

just another american corporate cost-control success story, folks. the bodies have already been factored in.