Pinnacle Confirms move to MSP

[twott driver]

Fair enough, and I apologize for the tone. My reasons are not invalid though. As I said, good luck to us all. It's a great job, but I would not choose it again as a profession. And as for being handed anything, I have fought for and earned everything I have. Starting with nothing other than a family and a salary of $16500. Fun times.

 

[gojo]

Fair enough, and I apologize for the tone. My reasons are not invalid though. As I said, good luck to us all. It's a great job, but I would not choose it again as a profession

Not sure i would either. There have been many more downs than ups the last decade

 

[General Lee]

One of the best lessons in life for you to learn is that everyone is not cut from the same cloth. We are all different, and have different motives and circumstances for our decisions. I'm not sure why you feel like it's ok to come on here with your condecending better than everybody attitude. Your rants make you look like a spoiled person that's had everything handed to him. Furthermore, your simplistic views on this subject show a complete lack of knowledge on the complexity of what happened to Pinnacle, and the direction of the regional airline industry as a whole. The model is changing, and would have regardless of the Pinnacle vote.

Unfortunately that is true. High gas makes most of your fleet inefficient. Throw in new rest/fatigue rules and hiring rules, and things get tougher. Twott is right about this last decade being tough, from 9-11 to the big BKs to the age 65 change. But, there is a bright light out there. Consolidation is helping put 6 weaker legacies into 3 stronger ones. Each one is starting to make bigger profits due to mergers and ancillary revenue, or fees. Even in tough economic times, the legacies are doing better. Pay rates are starting to get back towards pre BK wages, and the affects of Age 65 are waning as old timers start to retire in droves over the next few years. Hopefully many of you do flow up to mainline, or go to another legacy and get on early in the hiring waves, and enjoy the rest of your career with higher pay and better QOL. All 3 legacies will be a good choice in the first couple years of hiring. Good luck!



Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Monster Buck]

and talk about holding my head up high.....f you. I was a US Army Ranger and Paratrooper. I was a US Army Officer, I know about pride and decision making and the difference between right and wrong. You should ask yourself who put Pinnacle in this position and give them the looks you seem to be reserving for Pinnacle Pilots. Why not walk up to a Delta pilot and ask him/her how they like their pay raise and profit sharing off the backs of an FO making $35k a year now instead of a livable $45k. ******************** you

Over the last few months I have read a lot of what you said and have been on your side.....until you wrote this. Its disappointing to find out that you are not as smart as I thought.

 

[saabass]

Monster,
You being former XJ, and still closely connected to our family, I'm surprised by your statement. You were here during our last bk and so we're others very close to you. XJ/9E is now flying DC9 replacement jets for Regional Saab wages (both Capt and FO). You know we had no choice in either BK, NWA/DAL (aka NWA is sheepskin clothing) decided to put us here so they will make more money. It's silly to think Deltas profits were not helped by our cheap lift. It is very sad to think of people stuck down here at the regionals with a hired date of 2001 going to make 35k a year. We are all frustrated with Management (both our company and above) decision to kick around regionals over and over while they are making money hand over fist. I think that is what Hawk is saying. Congrats on getting out.

 

[sinkrate]

Easy man. Your company went BK and nobody but DL would give DIP financing to get you out. Had your company not gone BK, you'd have the same contract that you did prior. And, every penny in profit sharing and pay raises was negotiated, and it is good to raise the bar. If you want the same, apply or wait for a flow up, or go to another legacy. If you ever plan to leave PNCL and go to a legacy, you should want higher wages and profit sharing waiting for you. Don't blame everything on DL pilots.


Bye Bye---General Lee

Delta's scope rules that severly limit how a 50 seat AC can be used make them unprofitable for Delta - not the price of fuel. Under NW scope rules the 50 seat AC were very profitable for NW - and so was PCL. If you limited the 757 fleet to legs of one hour and nothing but hub turns it would not be profitable either. No swept wing jet would be.

Dalpa's intent in negotiating these scope rules was to make all 50 seat AC and operations unprofitable. Yes, Dalpa was a direct contributor to PCL's bankruptcy. Under these rediculous scope rules Delta had to find a way to shed its 50 seat fleet. If they still had NW's scope rules Delta would not have a reason to do that and PCL would not have entered BK.

Delta's competitors are slowly but steadily adding service to all the small markets Delta is retreating from due to these scope rules. In the end these scope rules are going to force Delta to shrink more as they continue to lose market share. Small market business travelers are leaving them for United and AMR and taking their international business with them.

 

[jynxyjericho]

Well, mainline could pick up some turboprops and hit those small communities hard.

 

[RT8VA]

I was at Mesaba during the first bankruptcy and it is an awful thing to go through without a lot of choices. The irony is that the majors are starting to make it more of a career position than a job again and if they didn't every one here would call them sell outs for signing a crappy deal. Unfortunately one of the side affects of the last two major contracts is going to be a huge fundamental shift in regional lift causing bad situations at the regional level. The hope is that the pilots that would like to come to the majors now will have a better place to be. When I started at CAL the pay was 29 dollars an hour, while the contract is far from what was expected in some areas I believe the starting pay and significant second year pay that a new hire will receive is a part of the contract I am very proud of. I will not get those pay rates and neither would any one on the list that had a vote since they would have to get fired and re hired, ( hope no one wishes that on me ) but it was still put in there. I had a number of friends that told me I would love to go to CAL but I just cant take the pay cut and now that isn't going to be as hard.

Every one on here take a breath and give the guys from PCL some slack, and remember a lot of Delta, United, and other major airline pilots came from the regional airlines when the transition was tough and heard from all of their friends that this needed to be a better career not just a job so give the Delta guys a break too for signing a better contract and making a better future not just for themselves but for those that follow for a change. Good luck guys and to all the families displaced my Mesaba friends are still my family and I keep in touch with many of them, people care more then you think.

 

[twott driver]

On reflection, and having had a pretty civil discussion with XJHawk on the side, I will admit that my frustrations are misdirected. I have known this all along, but sometimes it's easier to take shots at the closest targets, and it takes being called out to refocus. I cannot blame the Pinnacle pilots for how they voted. You had two pretty ********************tey choices, and little support or room to work. Bills to pay, kids to feed, time and breathing room to look for a new job etc etc. I understand. The big picture and long term consequences are not ones primary focus when faced with those pressures.

The blame lies squarely with a sham bankruptcy code, thieves for management, an ineffective and unrepresentative union, a business model that is unsustainable, no solidarity in the pilot ranks and an economic environment that doesn't leave too many other options. F them all I say.

I will continue doing what I do, and building on my other business on the side. I strongly encourage every one of you to be doing the same. Power comes from not being beholden to anybody for your livelihood, and having the option of telling them where they can stick it when it is no longer worth doing for what they are offering.

 

[RT8VA]

The blame lies squarely with a sham bankruptcy code, thieves for management, an ineffective and unrepresentative union, a business model that is unsustainable, no solidarity in the pilot ranks and an economic environment that doesn't leave too many other options. F them all I say.

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