Equity Airlines

Much of this work of fiction has been taken from National Transportation Safety Board accident reports and the news. When major airlines start hiring pilots on things other than skill and experience, bad things happen. This is a work of fiction. Or is it?

1 — DEI, the "elephant in the room"

2 — Equity Airlines, the book

3 — Equity Airlines, the "merch"

4 — Reviews

Most major airlines in the United States have embraced the idea of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in their hiring. Is having a diverse work force in the airlines a problem? No, of course not. But when you are hiring pilots, cabin crews, mechanics, and other professionals where skill matters, shouldn't you be hiring the best?

I took the Equity Airlines "mission statement" shown here from one of the major airlines. It seems odd that they don't mention their reason for being: flying passengers safely.

In April 2022, the FAA’s Acting Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Angela McCullough said in a meeting of FAA officials, “We need to talk about ‘ramp to cockpit’ is [sic] there some things we need to look at there? [ . . . ] Particularly in flight ops, their whole program is very heavily male dominated. It just is. And really, it is white male dominated; I mean, let’s just say what it is [ . . . . ] And then let us talk about what could the future look like if we really had this program that is representative of the whole country, right, the whole world."

In a 2013 presentation called “Controller Hiring by the Numbers,” the FAA posed the following question: “What are the relative values of diversity and the prediction of performance / outcomes?” with the following points. “There is a tradeoff between diversity (adverse impact) and predicted job performance / outcomes.” “How much of a change in job performance is acceptable to achieve what diversity goals?”

I think if you asked the traveling public, most would say no tradeoff is acceptable. We should not accept any tradeoff when safety is involved.

Equity Airlines is based on several major U.S. airlines, meant to reflect their personnel hiring practices. The characters include a cross section of very talented and capable pilots, as well as some who are not talented or capable at all. I base these characters on people I know at these airlines, people they tell me about, and people I've read about in several NTSB accident reports. The pilots hired under previous practices are alarmed by the quality of some (but not all) of the most recent new hire classes. The older flight crews warn these hiring practices will end up with the loss of lives and aircraft. The airlines argue that the safety record of the last twenty-plus years speaks for itself. The book follows a few of these pilots as they try to adapt to DEI, learn first hand the costs, and search for ways to deal with it.

The book is available right now at Amazon.com and other fine book sellers, in paperback and eBook.

In honor of this latest book, we are opening Code7700.store with a growing number of "merch," including Equity Airlines coffee cups and mouse pads. The "Equity Airlines" label is followed by a caveat, "* Safety is also important," making it clear there is something about Equity Airlines that bears some discussion!

Some of my favorites.

November 1, 2024

I enjoyed this tome. It was engaging and well-written, especially from my perspective as a professional pilot. The accidents portrayed in the book were based on actual events, which added a level of realism to the story. I read the entire thing in a single sitting, which is difficult when you have little kids running around the house.

The book was unpredictable in how the characters developed. Some that I thought would turn out to be the prototypical DEI hires ended up being good aviators, and vice versa. It gave shades of color rather than simply being black and white. Likewise, the primary characters had an arc to their storyline which kept my interest.

Most of all, I appreciate how the author did not pull any punches when dealing with the DEI issue. It’s gotten to the point where you can’t even discuss it without being labeled worse-than-Hitler. I’ve got Chinese neighbors who grew up during the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward and they say it’s the exact same environment they remember from Mao’s China in the 60s.

The portrayal of airline operations seems sadly accurate, though I would guess most people who haven’t been in the sausage factory would be hard pressed to believe it.

If you're a pilot, aviation aficionado, or wonder how the current push toward hiring people based -- at least in part -- on their immutable physical characteristics might affect flight safety, this one is worth a read.

November 2, 2024

So how does someone get into a pilot’s seat at a major airline these days? Although a work of fiction, Albright uses stories ripped from actual headlines to lay bare the competing interests of the airline industry in accurate and sometimes alarming, detail. Sure, there are some very good pilots out there but there are also some who have no business flying at all. Albright paints true-to-life characters that advance the story, learning hard lessons while examining their own prejudices and mistaken beliefs to the surprising conclusion. As a professional pilot, I can say the airlines have a looming problem on their hands. This book shows you cannot simply judge someone’s qualifications based on their “diversity category.” In any safety-sensitive job, prioritizing diversity over qualifications and experience is a recipe for disaster. As Albright points out, we can solve the problem, but we first have to admit the problem exists. You won't find this in ANY seatback pocket; as the airlines definitely don't want you to read it. However, I strongly suggest you read it before you book your next flight.

November 2, 2024

Equity Airlines is an easy reading book that pulls you into a topic of our time, DEI. You will get captured by the story line based on true stories of the last few years. I saw firsthand true stories of how the USAF treated women pilots differently than their male counter parts in my USAF Undergraduate Pilot training (UPT) in the early 1980’s. As the book makes clear, there are excellent pilots who might be considered “DEI hires” but are forced to prove themselves over and over because others hired for reasons other than merit have raised doubts about everyone. As you read along, you get pulled in and don’t want to put the book down! Enjoy this awesome book. Well done again James.

November 3, 2024

This book, however fiction , depicts the current state of the industry. It is based on factual NTSB reports related to past accidents. Specific cases where DEI and CRM are attributing factors to the accident. As a professional pilot (49 years) I highly recommended this book.

November 5, 2024

Equity Airlines is a fun and exciting read that should be a wake-up call to not just the aviation industry but to all industries. The author gives us engaging characters that entertain while providing great examples as to why employers should hire the best people, not the best people of a certain group. The book is an excellent reminder that safety should not be compromised by profits nor social agendas.

November 6, 2024

Equity Airlines is a captivating fictional story that illustrates the impact of the promotion of social justice on safety and professionalism in aviation. Based on real life situations, the author illustrates the disruptive and moral destroying impact of changing policies to satisfy the current push for DEI. The author’s two main characters accurately reflect the personality and professional qualities of many pilots that I encountered in my 35 years as a professional aviator. The novel takes the reader on their journey navigating the changing culture and changing priorities of today’s military and commercial aviation. This book is a must read for those in any profession where safety and professional standards should be paramount. I highly recommend this book.

November 8, 2024

Another excellent piece of writing by James Albright. Equity Airlines is a work of fiction mixed with a large amount of reality that should hit home with any pilot, regardless of skill level or career ambitions. This book does an excellent job of describing the issues and concerns professional pilots have with the DEI initiatives being pushed in the aviation industry both by airlines and the FAA itself.

November 9, 2024

What happens when the goal of providing opportunity clashes with the need for excellence? In this work of fiction, James Albright examines society’s priorities regarding talent and aptitude in safety sensitive positions versus the wider social goals of diversity and inclusiveness. Always engaging, this volume is an easy read that follows the careers of a couple of pilots at a fictional airline. Albright uses real-life accidents and incidents to try to parse the lines of great, good-enough and marginal-at-best through his characters and their crewmates. This is a thought provoking read that tackles the current state of affairs in the airline industry and our country at large. Albright has done it again, and given us some excellent lessons to take away.

November 18, 2024

I wanted to give some feedback on Equity Airlines. I bought it on the day of its release. I loved how you took inspiration from actual incidents to weave a new story around them. You have a keen talent to make us feel inside the cockpit with the pilots, and I feel like this new book of yours may have the best flying scenes compared to Brothers Bellum and Fly By Wired (they were also both gripping, but Equity Airlines edges them out for first place at least when flying is concerned). I also like very much how honest you are when quoting the actual events you took inspiration from in the appendix.

November 22, 2024

This book is first of all written in an engaging and enjoyable format and style. The storyline grips you quickly and you find yourself empathizing with the characters because they are so believable. In addition to style and format, the ability to accept and understand the characters is also due in part to the real life situations that are the basis of this book. The major incidents in the book actually happened! Yet it is not a documentary. It is a story of human beings and contains all the elements that make us both individual persons and a society.

Second, this book accurately portrays what is happening in the aviation culture, and the rest of society as well. Ideologies are seriously contending against reality, and the outcomes will be clear and understandable to readers who resist ideology and prefer to deal with reality.

Finally, the technical and operational details are real and applicable. Though I do not have the author's background as a pilot, as a fellow engineer with 51 years in aviation I find the details match the reality I have encountered in my career. Highly recommend this book! Even if you are not aviation oriented, the humanity of this book will grab your attention and touch your heart.

November 24, 2024

When do good intentions go astray? When the goal of increasing the diversity of the U.S. pilot force overrides the imperative of putting only the most skilled and confident flyers in our airliners' cockpits. In Equity Airlines, Albright draws on his decades of experience piloting some of the most complex and advanced aircraft to present the reader with a thought-provoking journey into the consequences of compromising pilot training and evaluation standards. The author brings these issues to life by neatly interweaving a series of fictional events where pilots have to apply their best flying and crew coordination skills to bring themselves and their passengers through potentially life-threatening situations. What could go wrong if their skills aren’t up to these challenges?

Albright’s ability to wrap technical piloting detail into edge-of- the-seat storytelling makes this book a great read for both aviation professionals and the flying public! Although the book is a work of fiction, the events described within are based on actual incidents, making the author's message even more impactful on the reader. That is, we cannot afford to take our airlines’ outstanding safety record for granted, which was achieved through the rigorous application of high standards for those who fly and maintain airliners.