Red, what you are missing is the 30-35 days off before your next trip. That is why guys fly them, along with one commute a month, usually one leg days to a nice beach resort (in Asia), and higher pay and per diem. If the trip has multiple crossings (Atlantic or Pacific which is called a "six pack" for 6 total back and forth pacific crossings in 12 days---could be Honolulu to Japan and back with every other layover in HNL), that means one leg a day with 3 or more pilots, rest breaks, and ice cream sundaes available if wanted. Great deal, and not as many legs each day.
Bye Bye---General Lee
That's great, honestly- but here's the problem with your widebody obsession- it creates natural divisions. Because dalpa, and ALPA in general, compensate widebody flying so much greater- these divisions grow and the pilot/human disease of "I'll be happy when...." occurs. The pilot/human disease of "i make more $$= i am better than...i can stand a little taller around my peers." occurs. "i can look down on them" occurs?? sometimes?
You know it does.
envy grows.
pride is fostered.
Next thing you know, you're 5 years from retirement and you spent much of it in relative transition, and the career that should've got you out of the rat race, had you in one anyway. Collectively self inflicted.
The flip side to choice GL, is that you have a choice.
"Where there is clarity, there is no choice.
Where there is choice, there is misery."
Awfully hard to stay in the moment, if there's always a bigger carrot to chase; if there's always a big financial motive to get in the rat race and chase that carrot.
You keep hopping on multiple leg days as if delta doesn't fly them on domestic aircraft. Do you see the subtle way you look down on your md90 flyers? Your own 73 drivers? The war against the major airline domestic flying hasn't just been management- they're simply seizing on the divisions pilots have created for ourselves. You aren't a real pilot at most ALPA legacies, until you're a widebody captain- and then you need to be on the newest and largest and overnighting to the most desired locations. (All things you CONSTANTLY harp on general. ) After the last decade of paycuts and concessions, can you see how we do not have time for even subtle divisions like this. And for many an egotistical pilot, it isn't subtle. They finally got to the widebody. And damn it they will enjoy being king. Finally.
What happened to respecting the Flyer? We'll all Fly West one day- and it's too long a career to create our own rat race and carrot chases- dividing us and conquering us with the ego of "I am better than my brother. I am better than my professional peers"
For all the arrogance we get accused of here on FI, defending SWA- we don't, by and large, have the arrogance and divisions of other airlines within ourselves. We fly 737's and are proud to be flyers. That's it. Our old guard is proud of that. If we get a bigger plane, most everyone I've talked to agrees we should set up a UPS like system where we blend the rates, and let pilots fly the type of flying they WANT to fly. The type that fits best with their life. Not the type they feel financially obligated to. Life, love, and family is real and intersects with money. Don't create a system where the choice is money that will affect our families, or the type of flying that will work best for our families. Thats not a choice that gives a net positive to a life or career.
Of all our negatives, one thing SWA gets, is life. And priorities. And it bleeds into scheduling & pay & contracts here. One the industry ought to look at. We can't control management. But we can do what our contracts can do and be wiser.
