A loyal Platinum Delta business pass speaks up

[atpcliff]

Hi!

1st class was in an RJ-85 (Mesaba). AWAC also flies them-called a BAe-146. They are very nice, and seat up to 100 PAX.

Cliff
DTW

 

[:-)]

hey cliff, ya know what BAe stands for?

Bring Another engine.

Hobbes

 

[dash8driver]

ok first, all you people are way off. you act like you've only been in this industry for a week. you should all know by now that these short comings are the fault of the employees, always! the only time upper management is involved is when success is involved.

all airlines are run by superior management teams. all success are due to their superiority, and all failures are due to other people (employees). boy i wish my checkrides would be graded the same way.

 

[coolyokeluke]

Pilot vs Doctor get serious
"Flight crews are as skilled as a physician and are asked give up the moon. I don't remember anyone asking their Dr. to take a pay cut before they went into surgery".

A high school drop out can make a living flying an airplane and have a skill level equal to anyone out there driving airplanes, in fact I know one at a major. Doctors can not. Doctor's are trained in unique specialties; they have an elimination process with many obstacles to overcome to get to their profession operating level. When you need a heart transplant, or have cancer, you make sure you have best available in that field and you pay whatever he wants. Pilots on the other hand are a commodity, a company or an airline needs a COM/INST/MEL rated pilot, there are 1,000's to chose from, and the job goes to the lowest bidder. Skill above a minimum level means little to the employer. In fact the skill level above the minimum has little to do with the hiring process, personality, work ethic, etc, play more into the pilot hiring process than hours and ratings. Anyone with a certain level of skill and some desire can become a pilot. Doctors become pilots all the time, and any doctor with the desire can become a pilot. (I know, I know they kill themselves in airplanes, but that is more a personality fault, than a skill short fall) The reverse is not true very few professional pilots have the skill to become doctors. I love flying, do it as much as I can, and I enjoy flying anything with wings, and that is reason I came back to aviation. But I think sometimes pilots have a misplaced why they fly, if you are in it because you like flying, you will not be disappointed. If you are in for the money, you may be disappointed. If you want money become a doctor.

I'm suprised nobody replied to this.

I've signed off 23 8710's. And no, not everybody can be a pilot (Even doctors). Particuallarly as you move up the food chain. It's not that some of these people aren't very intelligent and accomplished in their civilian lives either. We too have many obstacles to overcome in our quest to become professionals.

And yes, some high school dropouts could have the requisite skill and intelligence to make it as a professional pilot. Why is this a suprise? Education does not necessarily equate to intelligence or ability. This being said, I had to teach a high school drop-out. Do you have any idea of how hard it is to explain something like density altitude to a person who has only the most rudimentary understandings of physical science? Just one of many many examples.

I do agree that pilots must meet minimum (high) standards and any one of them will get you safely to your destination and should be able to handle an emergency situation. And that is different from medicine where the most difficult problems are unsolvable. This is an apples and oranges comparison.

Don't you think personality and work ethic will affect the professional life of a doctor? They don't work in a vacuum.

My uncle is a doctor. My wife is a doctor. I'll agree that flight crews are not asked to be as skilled as physicians but I still think it's not a relative comparison. I think very many pilots could be physicians and you're putting the medical profession on too high of a pedestal.

We're a commodity because of a free market system, supply and demand. There's a large supply of pilots. Not because we don't have high levels of training, knowlege, years of experience, and professionalism.

And last, I made the choice to follow avaition because I, like you, had a passion for it. I considered the medical profession but I realized that I had a greater interest in the money and prestige of being a physician than the actual work. Nobody should go into a field dealing with people (or animals) just because of money, you need great compassion for your patients.

 

[405]

I'm happy my corporate executives get nice bonuses...

As long as they're happy, by God, I'm happy too. That's all that matters to me...

Don't even get me started.