TonyC
Frederick's Happy Face
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2002
- Posts
- 3,050
I'm not sure if I should take that as an insult or a compliment. I'll opt for the latter for now.Redmeat said:Hey TonyC.
You sound like a young guy.
Before you go tooting your horn about the great choices you've made throughout your illustrious aviation career, keep in mind that there are plenty of older guys getting screwed right now that "chose" their airline when Federal Express had 14 Falcon 20's and a handful of 727's, and was considered a second-tier flying job.
They probably wish they possessed your incredible foresight.
So simmer down there sparky.
I knew about Federal Express back then because it was growing in my own hometown. If I had possessed incredible foresight, I would have joined the TN ANG instead of the Air Force, and I would be a widebody Capt with 20 years under my belt. Instead, I scoffed at the idea of flying purple airplanes in favor of an Air Force career followed by a "real" airline. It wasn't until several years later that I realized what opportunities had been right under my nose.
I'm not bragging about my choices, and I'm not criticizing anybody else's choices. What I'm doing is raising the BS flag to all of this nonsense that the only reason I support ALPA is that I was lucky enough to stumble into the right company at the right time. While I do consider myself lucky to have gotten an offer from my first choice, and I do consider myself lucky to be working for a very profitable company, I don't think either of those facts has any bearing on the discussion at hand. ALPA did not make FedEx profitable, and ALPA will not make FedEx unprofitable. ALPA WILL make it possible for the very best qualified individuals to bargain on my behalf to obtain my fair share of those profits.
As airline pilots we all owe ALPA for years and years of work on our behalf. The rules that govern us today, the compensation we receive, the hours and schedules that we work, the structure of safety that we enjoy... the list goes on and on ... these things that so many of us take for granted would NOT BE THIS WAY were it not for the tireless work of men and women that worked for the profession under the auspices of ALPA.
It's easy to be a coward and sit back and criticize everything you don't like. Who will be a man and stand up with an idea to make things better?
Anyone?
.