Airline Pilots Must Take the Iniative to Look Out for Themselves
You guys are hilarious. Sorry, never went to flight school, never wanted to be a pilot. High school aptitude tests showed that I lacked the required god-complex and self-righteousness in order to sit behind a mic and metal stick all day with another person in a cramped space bitching about no APU or an autopilot deferred, while also having to beg my dispatcher for another 5 minutes of fuel on my way to LAN where the weather is P6SM SKC. Also, my back would never be able to put up with a different hotel bed every night. I'm also pretty sure my skin couldn't withstand the amount of radiation a pilot gets subjected to flying around all day. Let alone, I'm definately sure my heart couldn't withstand the amount of stress envolved in worrying about the next management carrot hanging over my head as if the amount of money the company pays me is the lone deciding factor on if the airline is going to turn a profit or not. I've just never been able to put myself ahead of anyone else they way you guys can. That's why I dispatch, this way I can help 20-30 of you pilots out at the same time. This way I can get you to your overnight on time, so you'll have more time to hit on that hot flight attendant while your away from teh wifey on a 4-day. You'll be well-rested and ready to go the next day. I'd much rather just sit back and be the Teller to your Penn. I'll be the guy that sets you up to look good day in and day out, so you can go to management and thump your chest and tell them how valuable YOU are to the company and how much more money YOU need to make. We in dispatch support the pilots, its good to see you guy could care less about us. I can do my job without you, its you who can't do your job without me.
These comments, as well as the majority I see from this person, reflect the perspective of many or most who have never taken a seat on a flight deck. Just as a soldier who has experienced combat finds it difficult or impossible to relate the experience to others, and will usually give up trying, an airline pilot typically will do the same thing. The experiences can truly only be conveyed to fellow pilots.
Just as this person will consider the pilots to be spoiled, whiny crybabys, others outside the profession, perhaps most including the majority of other airline employees and management, probably feel the same way. These outsiders are not the ones taking the $20+ million jet six miles into the stratosphere with 50 plus passengers. These folks are not the ones facing a CAT II night approach in a multiple MEL'd jet after five or six legs, nearing the end of a 14+ hour day. These folks do not have the career committment at stake that a pilot does. I'm sure we all are well aware that outsiders to the pilot profession do not have the perspective of the committment required to fly, even at the regional level.
As I sat in the jet the other morning at one o'clock proof-reading a dispatch with multiple discrepancies, and trying to explain to the dispatcher how arriving at our destination with its single 10,000 foot runway, at that hour, with minimum fuel, and a deferral requiring a runway of that length was maybe not a good idea. How according to forecasts on his dispatch, yes we did also need an alternate for weather. And unfortunately, how the performance figures he's provided present us with a terribly difficult weight and balance problem. And yes, the dispatch will need to reflect the correct crew names.
It was apparent the dispatcher was becoming impatient with me. He most likely did consider me to be a whiny crybaby. What I have learned at this point, is that I cannot expect others to share a pilot's perspective. Just as the combat soldier returning from the conflict can't expect others the share his perspective...not even other soldiers who've yet to experience combat. Others, including airline employees, simply don't appreciate ours, especially management. If an accident occurs, even if it results in the airline being shut down, you can rest asssured all in management will have generously provided for themselves and their families after any eventuality.
There simply are very few professions which hold so many potholes. A minor paperwork oversight can be career ending. Not even a neurosurgeon faces the level of scrutiny an airline pilot does...he doesn't have the PRIA, threat of a Fed showing up at any moment, or multiple checking events in a year. This, my friends, is why I have no intention of becoming employed at a carrier without representation BY PILOTS AND FOR PILOTS. Additionally, this is why I feel, as others have suggested, that this person calling himself XPOO or whatever, who claims to be a dispatcher would be respectfully advised and requested to discontinue trolling pilot threads and limit his numerous and voluminous comments to subjects pertaining to himself and his profession.
