Airtran Insurance question

[CitationLover]

Hmmm, nope. Not really. Do you have kids? They're expensive.

i do in fact.

Must be a nice glass house you're living in. How did you get your degree? Do you have one? How did you pay for it?

i paid for it myself thank you. worked during school, co-op'd as an engineering student, had some loans. i didn't major in "aviation science" or whatever riddle sells as an "education", rather a practical mathematics degree that got me a nice paying job right out of college to pay off my debt.

Unless you're a stripper, working full-time while taking 18-21 hours of college credit a semester barely pays for your housing, food, and books. MAYBE some of your tuition if you're in a state school, and sure as hell doesn't pay for flight lessons.

A student loan is a vital necessity unless Mommy and Daddy are paying for college. Maybe not to the extent where you live off them and get out of college $150,000 in debt, but having $20k in student loans with all your ratings and a 4-year degree with a $150 a month payment isn't going to put anyone "in the hole".

you just proved my point. going to school with $150,000 in debt to get a job making $30,000/yr is pretty unreasonable. paying $80,000 to comair, flight safety, etc to obtain a job in this industry is flat out insane.

look i did not mean for this to come out the way it did. the important thing is to save as much as you can as early as you can. the trap of living paycheck to paycheck is when the next raise comes, the lifestyle simply changes and you're still paycheck to paycheck.

good luck to you. frankly health care, depending on the upcoming election, may be the least of your worries with regards to the TA.

 

[CitationLover]

Oh, I'm not saying that they couldn't do it. I'm sure they're great at what they do. I just don't see the need when we already have a services agreement with an organization that is perfectly capable of doing the job.

the difference is one company deals with 1,000+ companies and how their benefits are structured versus one that uses 50+ airlines only. benefits is a subsection of ALPA's evaluation team versus all an employee does and works with at hewitt. also it is nice to get another fresh perspective every now and then.

i guess my philosophy is, if ALPA could cost out airlines well enough then there would be ALPA airlines flying the friendly skies.

my $0.02, worth a lot less than that.

 

[Lear70]

CL, I agree with you that $150k in debt for an ERAU aviation degree is foolish. My point was that flying is expensive, and getting your ratings plus full-time college classes is going to cost more than any 18-21 year old could hope to make during that same period in order to pay cash; that's why student loans exist, and I don't think calling them "evil" is fair.

Glad you were able to get out with a degree and are enjoying kids - they're an absolute blast but, like I said, they're expensive and I married a girl who is just about maxed out on whatever she will make with her existing education unless she goes back to school, so it is what it is.

As far as having more to worry about than health care with the recall/election coming up, why do you say that?

 

[CitationLover]

As far as having more to worry about than health care with the recall/election coming up, why do you say that?

i was speaking of the presidential (US of A) election and not the recall election.

well it seems to me if a democrat gets in the office the health care system in this country is going to change somehow (i highly doubt universal coverage, but some things will change).

that being said, i wouldn't want to concede something for better health care when health care as we know it will change in 2-3 years.

 

[Lear70]

OIC.

I don't think that health care is a "given" with any presidential candidate in office and I certainly don't know if it will happen that quickly.

A lot of candidates have campaigned on health care reform, and look at where we are now...

Should we give up a major bargaining chip for it? Maybe. Depends on the chip. I'd have traded the Twome grievance (reserve pay system) for a 50% reduction in healthcare premiums across all the plans (savings of $200-600 a month), but that's just my personal opinion,,, something everyone benefits by.

OK... waiting for the reserve guys to start stoning me.

 

[PCL_128]

OK... waiting for the reserve guys to start stoning me.

Actually, I'd take that too. The current reserve pay system is wonderful, but those insurance premiums are killer, even for a single guy like myself. All 1600 pilots would benefit from a reduction in the premiums, while only a small group currently benefits from the reserve pay system.

 

[Lear70]

Yeah, that was the thought...

 

[DASHDRIVER]

Didn't I just see Airtran post a 41m quarterly profit? Why not just demand better coverage with not giving anything back? If they keep preaching industry average, make it average.