The Coveted Seat

An Eastern Air Lines pilot called in one day last week to say that the plumbing in his house was leaking and he had to stay home to fix it. Another rang up to say that his garage door was jammed and he could not get to work. Yet another said he had a backache. Whatever their expressed reasons for not going to work, Eastern Air Lines pilots crippled the nation's third largest airline last week.

Behind all the flimsy excuses is the fight of President Clarence N. Sayen of the Air Line Pilots Association against Federal Aviation Agency Boss Elwood ("Pete") Quesada. Ever since Quesada took over the agency last year, he has cracked down on sloppy flying, particularly in jets, told his inspectors in planes to keep a sharp eye out for violators. A.L.P.A. President Clarence Sayen fought back, accused FAA inspectors of endangering lives through "petty, ridiculous harassment of flight crews." He even tried to have FAA funds earmarked for inspector training shifted to other uses. Says he: "It is a foolish waste of public money. Pete Quesada just lacks understanding of the overall problem--and that makes him dangerous."

Job Protection. The point of dispute is where the flight inspectors should sit. Directly behind the captain's seat in the cockpits of DC-8s and Boeing 707s is the forward observer's seat. The FAA maintains that its inspectors must use this seat in order to observe the crew properly. But for A.L.P.A. this seat has a special significance. Last year after bitter wrangling with the airlines, A.L.P.A. got the right to have a third pilot sit in this seat on American, TWA, Eastern and Pan American jet planes; it was the union's way of ensuring that jobs for pilots do not decrease too drastically as the swifter, larger jets cut down the number of individual flights. A.L.P.A. does not want to see the third pilot replaced even temporarily by an inspector, for fear it might weaken the union's argument that a third pilot is essential to the safe operation of the jetliners. But the FAA believes that two pilots are sufficient for safe operation. Quesada says that the third pilot is simply a union-management agreement "of little or no concern to us."

The first flare-up in the latest round started at Miami International Airport. There Eastern Air Lines Captain H.O. Hudgins was preparing for jet flight 600 when he learned that a FAA inspector would be aboard. Following his latest A.L.P.A. instructions, Hudgins refused to take off. Other Eastern pilots followed suit. Soon three flights were canceled.

Emergency Regulation. To avert more cancellations, Eastern went to a federal court in Miami, got a temporary restraining order requiring Eastern pilots to give the forward observer's seat to FAA inspectors. Quesada, stung by what he termed A.L.P.A.'s "arrogant defiance of the Government," rushed through an emergency Civil Air Regulation, requiring the forward observer's seat to be turned over to FAA inspectors. For pilots who balk. Old Pilot Quesada laid down the penalty that hurts most -- suspension of a pilot's license. Rather than disobey the court order and the new FAA regulation, Eastern pilots effectively grounded the flights by not showing up.

Although Sayen disclaims any responsibility for the stay-away strike of East ern pilots, he still refused to withdraw A.L.P.A.'s advice to pilots on TWA, American and Pan American not to fly this week if the FAA inspector demands the forward observer's seat.

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