Saturday, April 07, 2007

Crash pad crackdown near Chicago Midway

by B. N. Sullivan

signAirline commuters take note: Chicago is cracking down on crash pads in the area around Midway Airport.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a Southwest Side resident anonymously tipped off authorities about the location of nearly two dozen crash pads in the area.
Forty inspections were conducted over the last three months, resulting in 31 violations for illegally operating as "transitional shelters."

Four openly acknowledged the violations and shut the crash pads down. Twelve offered no response. Their cases will be forwarded to the city's Law Department for prosecution in Circuit Court -- with fines as high as $1,000 a day.

Five others were snared for illegal conversions -- residential units illegally carved into the attic or basement of single family homes. All of the crash pads were located within a mile of Midway Airport.

"Flights are arriving at all hours. You have people coming and going at all hours. It could be a fire risk," said Zoning Administrator Patty Scudiero. "In one case, we saw four sets of bunk beds. That's eight people, in addition to the owner. The next night, it was another eight."
Ah yes, the glamorous life of pilots and flight attendants -- sleeping in bunk beds, eight to a room! Scandalous! (You'll pardon my sarcasm.)

From a quick scan of the news headlines, it looks like a Sun-Times reporter broke this story. The Associated Press picked it up, and now other newspapers and TV stations in Illinois are churning out their versions.

The Chicago Tribune focused on the safety issue, which apparently is at the heart of the Zoning Authority's concern:
Bunk beds in basements with one exit. Twenty people living in one residence. Attics illegally converted into living space.

These are the part-time living conditions of some pilots and flight attendants based out of Midway Airport.
The Chicago Tribune article also quotes Patty Scudiero, the Zoning Administrator. "They could be legalized and they could be safe," she said. "It is tricky, but it is a safety issue for us."

The Chicago Tribune said that most of the inspected homes were on South Kolmar and Kilbourn Avenues and 55th Street, and that the city doesn't plan to target the neighborhoods around O'Hare International Airport unless it receive complaints.

Don't hold your breath: Now that there's all of this hubbub about crash pads around Midway, something tells me it's only a matter of time before some "anonymous tipster" near O'Hare squawks about all of the crash pads there, too.

[Photo Source]
Posted by B. N. Sullivan at 16:06
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4 comments:

  1. Shiny-Jet-Syndrome:

    The Career Killer


    Sally: "Every year hundreds of children from around the world are afflicted with a paralyzing disease. Shiny-jet-syndrome. SJS."


    Sally: "Thats right. Today 9 in every 10 young pilots is a victim of SJS. Take Jimmy here. Jimmy is a smart, young man. He was raised in an upper, middle-class suburb. Jimmy's dad was a Delta pilot. Jimmy has been a flight instructor here at Comair academy for 3 weeks now. See how happy he is? See how much pride Jimmy takes in his job?"


    Sally: "It's now been six weeks since Jimmy started his new job. He has almost 60 hours of instructing under his belt. The symptoms of SJS have already begun to manifest themselves. Jimmy is a victim. He constantly complains about his lack of career progression. With a little over 500 hours total time and zero actual instrument, Jimmy had expected to be flying a regional jet by now."


    Sally: "A year later, SJS has fully taken him over. Jimmy is a regional jet co-pilot now. Let's watch..."


    Sally: "Jimmy looks happy now, he's an airline pilot. With less than one-thousand hours total time though, Jimmy is a burden to the Captains he flies with. His ego is enormous. He feels as though he is a modern day Ernest Gann or SkyKing but without the autopilot and flight director he is borderline dangerous. He is lazy, apathetic, and still angry. He had expected to be working for a major airline right now."

    Sally: "SJS has finally claimed its victim. Jimmy -- for the time being -- is happy. His airline flies an armada of narrow-body, Embraer jets that carry as many as 120 passengers. Jimmy gets paid less today than a city bus driver. He earns less than an Amtrak conductor. On average he is earning more than $100/hr LESS than the major-airline pilots he has replaced. His copilot, Sean, has been an airline pilot for about one month. He is elated to be flying a big-jet for $20,000/yr. As long as his parents continue to send those allowance checks, this could be the best job ever!"

    Sally: "Do YOU know someone who is a victim of SJS? Watch for these warning signs! "

    • Do you know a CFI who has applied at Mesa or Boston/Maine?
    • Do you know a CFI who is burned out after 6 weeks of instructing?
    • Do you know a student pilot who has answered a flight school ad for "guaranteed interview with our regional airline partner"?
    • Do you know a pilot who has purchased a CRJ type-rating?
    • Do you know a regional-jet pilot who has purchase a 737 type-rating?
    • Do you know an airline pilot who has taken concessions in order to allow their company to purchase larger airplanes?
    • Do you know a pilot who believes that AirTran and Jetblue are the "majors" they've wanted to work for for "their whole lives"?
    • Do you know any member of the RJDC who STILL BELIEVES that mainline pilots are hurting their career expectations?
    • Do you know any airline pilots who refuse to dress in their uniform as specified by their SOP because "if they wanted me to dress better, they'd pay me better"?
    • Do you know any airline pilots who carry their hats for 4-days without ever putting it on their head?
    • Do you know any airline pilots who wear a backpack rather than carry adult-luggage?
    • Have you flown with copilots who say, "I cant believe they pay us to do this!!"?
    • Do you know any individual whose first "real" job involved carrying 50-90 people in the back of a jetliner?
    • Do you know any regional jet pilot who drops the "Express" or "Connection" portion of their airline name while using their profession to attempt to pick up women in a bar?

    Sally: "If the answer to any of those questions was "yes" your friend might have SJS. Watch for these warning signs. SJS is a violent and dangerous disease. If left unchecked for too long the entire airline piloting profession will be NEUTERED. It is important to stop it in its tracks. Together we can reach that goal."

    "Here at the Jets R' Neat Institute we are researching cures for SJS. We've developed revolutionary cures including:

    • Make minimum experience requirements to fly part 121 at LEAST as stringent as part 135 minimums -- and make it a regulation.
    • Shut down all flight schools that "guarantee" interviews.
    • Raise CFI pay so that pilots are more likely to spend time in that position.
    • Require that each part 121 candidate have at least 500 hours PIC (not instructor time) operating within the IFR system in day and night, and in all weather conditions.
    • Preference to be given to pilots who have held jobs outside of aviation.
    • Bryan Bedford and Johnathan Ornstein to be executed publicly at dawn.
    • Duane Woerth will be forced to watch the execution of the above before being surprised by his own execution. He's just too stupid to be left in charge of ALPA.

    Sally: "We've done a lot, but you can help. For just $246 per day you can sponsor a flight instructor or regional airline pilot.

    For less than the cost of a good-quality, high definition television you can sponsor an aspiring airline pilot and show them what life would be like if they actually made the money that major airline pilots used to make. This is the first step in ending SJS."

    "Jimmy needs your help. Please send your check for $7626/month to:

    The Jets R' Neat Institute for the Elimination of SJS
    C/O Doctor Sven Rosenstein
    Trailer #12
    Happy Valley Trailer Park
    Coraopolis, PA 15108"
    ReplyDelete
  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RayMaswju1A
    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Anonymous #1 - I'm just curious -- why did you add your very funny SJS bit to this particular post?

    Dear Anonymous #2 - (Who might also be Anonymous #1 ??) - Sorry but you're way behind with that video. I beat you to that one a long time ago. I posted it on another blog of mine, called Professional Pilot News. Here it is -- posted there in July of last year. ;-}

    Happy landings!
    ReplyDelete
  4. Do you feel that SJS, Shiny Jet Syndrome, is responsible for grown adults in the airline industry to live in cramped quarters with up to 20 others just like them? www.shinyjetsyndrome.com where you can make personal attacks against individuals
    ReplyDelete

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