If you think this problem is confined to the regional airlines only you are sadly mistaken. I used to work for one of the major airlines and all of the crew (flight deck and flight attendants) have and continue to fly on less than 5 hours sleep at times. The company doesn't care, because on paper it shows the crew has had 6 hrs or whatever. They don't care if the aircraft arrived late, the hotel van is 45 min or longer, late picking up the crew, if the hotel rooms aren't ready (even though they know the crew is booked to stay there, up to hours of waiting in the lobby for a room to be ready is NOT unheard of), of the noise in the hotel that keeps crews awake, or hotels where the a/c or heat -depending on the season-doesn't work, keeping crew members awake unable to sleep because the room is miserable. The companies don't care that the van ride took over and hour to get to the hotel.That you have worked a 14-16 plus hour day, they don't care! The FAA has done these studies and talked to the crews for YEARS and NOTHING changes. The companies don't care! They have been doing it for YEARS and have GOTTEN away with it. If you think that you have never been on a plane with a pilot or flight attendant sleeping-you are SO WRONG. It happens way more than you think. It is easily remedied, but the companies don't care because no one holds them accountable. So, think about that when your pilot is taking off and landing with you or your loved ones aboard. And remember, that cheery little flight attendant you are seeing and is not so chipper and cheerful, irregardless of what time of day or night it is, may be on their 4th, 5th or 6th leg of a 14 plus hour day with possibly 4 hours OR less of CREW REST! Happy flying!

I lived in an apartment complex in Vero Beach, FL with Flight Safety Academy (it is incredibly funny to think about FSA) student pilots'. It had 16 units, and I lived there nine months. Those student pilots' were the biggest jerks on the planet. All of them were nothing but spoiled rotten white-bred brats, whose parent(s) were paying the bills, or had co-signed the loans for them to pay for the pilot training. They were all talking of the future (near) when they would become airline pilots. Two, three or four years' down the road. They made me sick. They are the ones who get hired to fly regional airplanes with little or no real flying experience. Disgusting. I know why that DASH-8 crashed in BUF last Feb. No shock too me there. They fly about as well as I crate rocket ships for NASA.