Island Air loses round
against partially
blind pilot

The FAA says he's fit to fly
but the airline refused to hire him

By Peter Wagner
Star-Bulletin

A former commercial pilot who is blind in one eye has won the right to press discrimination charges against Aloha Island Air Inc. for refusing to hire him in 1991.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an earlier ruling by U.S. District Judge Samuel King that supported the airline's argument that Hawaii's discrimination laws are overridden by the federal Airline Deregulation Act.

The Oct. 14 decision, which notes the pilot has been certified safe to fly by the Federal Aviation Administration, allows the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission to pursue his allegations and potentially force a remedy -- including requiring the airline to hire the pilot, or pay him for lost wages.

According to court records, Island Air, an affiliate of Aloha Airlines and a subsidiary of Aloha Airgroup Inc., has a policy against hiring "monocular" pilots. The company yesterday had little comment on the court's decision, pending possible appeal.

"The issue here is one of public safety," said Island Air spokeswoman Stephanie Ackerman.

That's not the way the pilot, Bruce Pied, sees it.

"The FAA issued me a waiver saying I could perform every duty as required for a first class medical certificate, which allows me to fly anything from single engine Cessna to a Boeing 747," said Pied, 44, from his home in Kealakekua yesterday.

State Deputy Attorney General Girard Lau, who argued the case in behalf of the civil rights commission, said the decision could change the way airline companies hire.

"The airlines now have to be careful in that they will be subject to state disability discrimination lawsuits," he said.

Karl Sakamoto, the commission's deputy director, said the airline deregulation law was being used as a shield against Hawaii's law. "Our hands are no longer tied," he said.

Pied, flying commercial aircraft for the past 10 years, lost sight in his left eye at 18 after a disease attacked his optic nerve. He experienced initial loss of depth perception but later learned to adjust.

"Ask anybody on my son's baseball team if I can catch a baseball," said Pied, who's been coaching the team for six years.

Dr. Russell Stodd, a Maui eye surgeon who flies a single-engine plane, sees no handicap in the loss of an eye. Depth perception derived from two eyes -- stereopsis -- can be relearned with one, he said.

"Stereopsis is very important for someone who works up close, like a jeweler or an eye surgeon," he said. "In terms of looking far away, which is what an airline pilot is doing, the ability to see with one eye serves just as well as two."

Pied applied at Island Air while flying for Hawaii Pacific Air in 1991. He earlier had flown the same type of aircraft then used at Island Air, the Dash-6, as a pilot at Samoa Air.

He later flew for Empire Airlines, which was carrying passengers for Mahalo Air until 1994; Rich International Airways; and Orient Thai Airlines until he was furloughed in August .

It's been a string of short engagements at small airlines, he says, because major companies won't hire him.

"Primarily it's because I'm blind in one eye," he said. "I get jobs with fringe airlines where the pay is little, where you go to build time. That's pretty much where I've had to stay."

Pied took his complaint to the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, which was kept from investigating by a lawsuit filed by the airline. The company successfully argued in U.S. District Court that the matter was a safety issue under the federal Airline Deregulation Act, preempting the state's discrimination law. The law prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of physical disability.

In overturning King's decision, the Court of Appeals said safety matters are not within the purview of the deregulation act.