ACA TA Passed

[RJPilott]

Hang in there bro. The MEC is working on it. It will be interesting how this unfolds. Keep in touch with the Furlough Administrator of our MEC. Also you may want to try calling your domicile Chief. If you need numbers, let me know...

 

[zkmayo]

One thing about the baseball/airline analogy. there is a big difference: airlines provide a commodity service ie there is little brand loyalty bc, for the most part, there is little differentiation between services provided by the airlines particularly among the majors and regionals. Look at it as reserving a rental car. Do you care who you rent from? No, you go to the one that is cheapest and most convienent. Baseball, however, has hometown teams, loyal support, etc and therefore people are willing to spend $50/ticket to see Mark McGuire. Its only airlines that differientiate themselves from the pack like JB (new airbus offering cheap fares and upbeat service), Midwest (premium onboard meals and service, chinaware, cookies, etc), and Airtran and SWA (rock-bottom prices/no-frills service) that stand away from being a commodity. Is it a shock that these are the airlines that are doing well (ok, Midwest isnt doing so well bc of there dependence on business travelers)?

The regionals are also a commodity. They all mainly fly the same type airplanes and could be substituted for each other with relatively little fanfare (repaint airplanes, change domiciles). That was held over our heads at ACA. "Mesa could replace us in 2-3 years as UAL phases us out and ramps up MESA." Therefore, as pilots, although we are highly skilled and trained labor, we are also expendable and interchangeable, and therefore a commodity too. Doctors and lawyers arent so easily interchangeable. Ask a cardiologist to do brain surgery. Ask a real estate lawyer to be defense counsel in a murder case. Ask a CRJ Capt to become a Airbus FO, thats doable. Do you see my point?

best wishes, fly safe

 

[acaTerry]

zk,

There is some validity to your point, however, I think there is at least some loyalty in the airline industry. True, not as much as in ball, but look at all the mile-earning credit cards that work with certain airlines (to name just one of the outside ways of making money). The airlines are not going to give seats away to credit card companies for nothing. And if people know that by flying X airline enough that there is something to be gaines, they will stick with it.

Rental cars are too dependant on the individual. You mention that nobody cares who they rent from so long as it is cheap. Not true. I, for example, will rent from nobody but Avis. This is because I know I never get a smokey, trashed up old beater that has ashes on the seats, smells like 5-day old McDonalds and has mud on the floor. Avis costs more, but I knoww I'm getting that extra buck worth. It is the same way in air travel. The one who does not care will go to the cheapest one. But the passengers who want a better product will stay where they know it will be the way they want it, even if the airline pays pilots more than $22,000/ year.

Your style makes you appear to be around the same age range as me so you may be able to relate to this: I miss the days when air travel cost more and people dressed up for it. The passengers had class and flight was fun. Now, in this age of the spoiled customer, it's just another d*mned thing to complain about. I guess the improvements in safety do not account for anything. They'd be happier crashing, as long as it was cheap. And for the way it's going now in terms of professional treatment, lower caliber pilots are going to apppear. So the travelling public may yet get what they want.....the cheap crash.

 

[neflyguy]

PROUD TO HAVE VOTED NO.
IT'S BEEN VERY QUIET THE LAST 72 HOURS. NO NEWS FROM MGTMT OR CHIEF PILOT. A SPECIAL BID FOR THE FRJ???
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, WHILE WE STILL HAVE PEOPLE ON THE STREET.

TO MY FELLOW MINORITY PILOTS WHO VOTED "NO" THANK YOU, AS FOR THE REST OF YOU I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR YOU BEEETCH FOR THE NEXT 7 YEARS!! YOU LOST THAT RIGHT!!!



Report this

 

[walkthasky]

.

Dont want to hear your sh*t either dude. Stop whining. The TA passed and thats that. What do you have to gain by being angry. Lifes too short to be pissed off all the time. Who did you fly 1900's for ? Who promised that there would be news within 72 hours? I admit the FRJ thing sucks. People really need to grow up these days.

Blah Blah Blah

 

[Diesel]

AS214 if you lost some weight you could fit better into that x cockpit.

Just remember it's not just a 7.5 percent paycut. With the workrule changes its more like a 15percent paycut.

Oh man you should have seen AS214 in an ultra. How does that saying go 6 pounds in a 3 pound sack?

 

[pilotwannabe]

Look here. Aca passed the crappy TA so that's just the way it will be. I voted no but obviously I was in the minority by far. I will get paid shi# for the next five years as a fo here and that is a fact. The fo's were sold out in this agreement and for some reason they all voted for it. We were promised growth with a yes vote. I cannot wait to see what this growth is. Hopefully it will be growth and United does not fuc* us. The doom and gloom and scare tactics worked and I give managment a grade of "a" for their great efforts in selling this piece of shi* TA. We saved our jobs at ACA by voting yes. How great if feels to get paid crap for so many years just to say I get to fly a jet. oh well. I knew what I was getting into.

laters

 

[buttercup]

Diesel,

That wasn't very nice!!! You know I lost alot of weight!! I figured my total weight now is equal to the weight of your brown-nose from all the ass kissing you do up in Columbus.

PS.. Your wife flys bigger equipment than you, you must be her b@@@@

 

[zkmayo]

acaterry,

I see your point on the rental car thing, and I agree there are some important steps airlines have taken to try to differentiate their service with perks from the "pack." I believe that the root of the problem is that we have seen a migration of pax who used to be loyal to one brand for whatever reason come over to the camp of those willing only to pay the cheapest price.

Amen to the days of getting dressed up to go on an airplane. I remember my parents requiring me when I was a kid in the late 70s to where slacks and a decent shirt to travel anywhere on an airplane (parents werent non revs). Flash forward to a flight i did today where some 55 year old woman gets on board with a mini skirt so short she can barely walk up the steps of a 328j. Dont mean to sound like a snob, but i think some people get dressed in the dark and just put on the first thing they find before they travel these days.