Alaska guys: Tell me about flying the 737-200.

[tico]

LilCap,
I would even add this thought. Kastration is here to stay. -29% club for me, and next year I've got to bump my 401K contributions up to 19% to hit the IRS limit of 15K. I lived on mac and cheese for a lot of years before I got this job, I enjoyed steak for a couple of years, now its back to mac and cheese - or I could sell my house. Point is - I NEED to upgrade. We will not be getting a bunch of $$$ back in 18 months through negotiations. The only way for me to have a comfortable life again is to upgrade. That will only happen (sooner rather than later) if we are growing and profitable. Yes I took one for the team along with 1500 other Alaska pilots, but burning down the house will not get me anything - it will only prolong the mac and cheese. This is not to say that I always agree with our management, or that I like some of the things they did and continue to do - but this is the aviation world that we live in. With the whole industry in the tank we are in far better shape than most, so I'm not going to bite the hand that feeds me, even if it is mac and cheese. I'm going to do everything in my power to enable my airline to grow and be profitable, so I can upgrade and get as much of the pie as I can. If someone is ticked off and wants to burn the house down, what is going to get you in the end? Nothing - no upgrade, no $$$, and maybe no job should our airline fail. Whats the point of that? I still wear my hat, I still polish the cowboy boots, I still do the job the same way I always did. I am blessed to work out of the ANC 200 base where every Captain I fly with feels the same.

To answer psysicx - yes and years.

AK737FO

You have to take what ANC -200 guys say with a grain of salt....They fly out of the best little base in the system and for the most part they have been completely isolated from the management induced meltdown that the rest of us have been living with since long before Kasher.......Am I a little envious(especially since I spent a good while as one of them) you bet. I, like AK, don't want to burn down the house but I am sick and tired of watching these guys piss away my 45,000.00 "investment" every day, all day......On the -200 it is easy to go to work and "make a difference" in SEA we used to try but you can only take rejection for so long before you just plain give up......And I for one am not looking forward to an upgrade so that I can make a pittance more than I would have made as a senior FO with a good schedule....AK, think about this---when you make captain you will not have what the guys you fly with have..the 185's on lake hood, the cabins out at red shirt and east papoose, the mansion on the hill, the boats in homer, the condo's in Mexico, the second house in the San Juan's, the new snow machines every year, the new pickups to go with them and most importantly, the time to enjoy all of that....no my friend, you and I will upgrade just to maintain what little standard of living we finally acheived after all the hard work....and in 25 years when it is all over, our houses won't be paid for and our retirment will not be funded and we won't be taking our lump sum and riding off into the glorious sunset after giving these people 300hrs a month of our lives....So the next time one of those guys that you and I have both flown with sits over there and tells you how it is ok and this company really has good talented people working for it and how we just need to get behind them and everything will turn out just fine...remember that they allready have their's and you don't nor will you....you simply have a decent job that will allow you to make a decent living and if you are very careful and live frugally in retirement you will be OK except of course you will have given up every holiday and every family function etc... for the rest of your career

nuf said !! back to work..

 

[Singlecoil]

Right on, tico! That says it all.

 

[ferlo]

LilCap,
I still wear my hat, I still polish the cowboy boots, I still do the job the same way I always did. I am blessed to work out of the ANC 200 base where every Captain I fly with feels the same.


AK737FO

Bill Ayer was unfortunately correct. In a few months everything will go back to normal. He predicted that pilots will do anything "just to get to fly". He wrapped up this concept in the word "professionalism". I don't think being outraged by Kasher makes me unprofessional. I just hope that by 07, those that get weepy eyed and swoon at the thought of doing an NDB approach into Kodiak finally get it that their time and dedication is worth CASH not gratiutous slaps on the back by Kevin Finan. Flying is a business, our banks and other creditors really don't give a sh*t how much you like to fly. Let's grow up, join the real world, and stop being such whorish chumps.

 

[AK737FO]

computer burp

Tico,
I spent some time this morning, over a hot cup of joe, typing out that I generally agree with you, but I also wrote about some things for us to consider as we fight our way through this profession / career choice at Alaska. Then my computer burped and it was gone... O well.

Ferlo,
Just FYI, there is no NDB approach into ADQ (Kodiak). BUT, the last time I did the NDB into CDV (Cordova), it was at night, to mins, with a circle to land, and it was so good it brought a tear to my eye.

Fly like poetry in motion.
AK737FO

 

[tico]

"I just hope that by 07, those that get weepy eyed and swoon at the thought of doing an NDB approach into Kodiak finally get it that their time and dedication is worth CASH not gratiutous slaps on the back by Kevin Finan. Flying is a business, our banks and other creditors really don't give a sh*t how much you like to fly. Let's grow up, join the real world, and stop being such whorish chumps."

Ferlo, go easy on people that enjoy flying airplanes....hand flying a "real "approach still gets me off too. And occasionaly, with the right captain, I still switch to round dial, turn off the flt directors, autopilot/auto throttles and all of the lnav/vnav crap and actually find a runway all on my own..

All that aside, if I decide to show up to work I still as I allways have give the pax there moneys worth...I would like to have a few of them left when the Bill, Kevin, Benny, Paul and Bob show rides out of town. And they will as surely as the sun mostly rises in the east. And when I get up in the morning and after doing my self-certification before flying as required by the FAR's and cannot with 100% surety say that I am fit to fly, wether it be physical or mental than I do what the law requires and remove myself from flying status..period...I am also working dilligently to turn Alaska Airlines into a decent part time job. I believe that the sun is setting on flying as a profession and it is transiting to "just a job"... Not something I really want to be a part of. However that is just me.....

 

[mach none]

Bill Ayer was unfortunately correct. In a few months everything will go back to normal. He predicted that pilots will do anything "just to get to fly". He wrapped up this concept in the word "professionalism". I don't think being outraged by Kasher makes me unprofessional. I just hope that by 07, those that get weepy eyed and swoon at the thought of doing an NDB approach into Kodiak finally get it that their time and dedication is worth CASH not gratiutous slaps on the back by Kevin Finan. Flying is a business, our banks and other creditors really don't give a sh*t how much you like to fly. Let's grow up, join the real world, and stop being such whorish chumps.

This is scarey but I actually like what you have said ferlo.

I, (state your name), have a problem. I am an enabler.

This is like fighting cancer kids. We are hoping to kill the cancer (Inept middle management) before we kill the patient (the airline).

 

[ferlo]

Okay, sorry if I offended any of you who still like to fly. I think the bottom line is we all, at least to some degree, still like to fly airplanes. The question, in this day and age is, do you like flying more than say...

1. providing a decent roof over your families heads?
2. Having enough cash for retirement when the A plan goes the way of the Dodo bird?
3. Putting your kids thru college without totally destroying the two above?

I could go on all day but the bottom line here is that our ability to operate these aircraft for alaska airlines is the only leverage we have. In '07 we have probably the only remaining chance this decade to right a terrible wrong. This company did not need to rape the F.O's out of over 1/3rd of our income. I fly not out of bliss but out of my responsability to provide for my family. These A-holes threatened that. I will never forget, or forgive for that matter. Recall we got profit sharing checks the same year they bribed Kasher and stole 40,000 dollars from each of us. I just hope nobody gets used to the pain and gives these bastards a free pass to continue. Stay Unified, and fight the good fight in '07. This is truely what a real professional would do, not bend over and accept this as part of the game.