Duane Worth Cashes in on B6

[Chronic Jetlag]

reality check

If If? Sounds like high school english to me Cuz? Market will bear? If guys were not willing to fly an airbus for 120k a year we would not be in the predicament we are in. Why do you guys not have the ability to negotiate? I know the answer to that already. Just curious if you have figured it out yet. Believe me Cuz, I have smelled the coffee and no longer want to work in a field where high school graduates earn the same as college and post graduate folks. A college degree is supposed to be worth something but, I guess not in the piloting profession. Enjoy your job. By the way, you have no clue what a good contract is. Do you even have a contract?

Mr. 800Dog:
Once again you are personally attacking your fellow pilots. I admit I'm not the best typist in the world and made a few typos. If this is all you're bringing to the table then you should re-arm yourself with facts rather than personal insults. A sound argument carries weight and merit, a personal insult only exposes your ignorance & hubris. You made it quite obvious that flying an A320 for $120K/year is beneath you and you feel insulted and acrimonious that other pilots are whoring themselves and eroding the profession by flying for less. Ask yourself what your education, flying skills, airmanship is really worth to corporate America if you couldn't fly? How marketable are your skills to corporate America? A college degree no longer guarantees or even assures a good, high paying career. A medical doctor comes out of med school eye balls deep in student loans. Has to work 24 hours straight during their residency...and have you really checked lately what new doctors are really making? Why don't you read last month's article in the Economist magazine about a surgeon's compensation. Personally I feel the airline pilot profession is the most professional, the most noble profession on earth; higher than doctors and lawyers. It brings out the best and...unfortunately the worst in people. In times of peril it tests your strength & character. I have personally seen the best and the worst in pilots; we are our own worst enemy. Pilots eats their youngs.

Do yourself a favor and do a little self inventory and be honest with yourself. I don't like it either but the harsh reality is this: Airline pilots possess a skill that's very much like a trade; we practice our trade and our employers compensate us with $$$. All of us are expendable, no different from one another. We all dream for the "good old days", the days of Pan Am, Eastern, TWA. But those days are long gone and as much as I hate to admit it I must roll with the punches and change with the times. Right now I still feel being an airline pilot is worth it. The day that I feel it's not worth it I'll pack it up and go sell real estate or be a greeter at Wal Mart but I promise you won't find me on this form blaming my fellow pilots for my woes with disparaging remarks!!!

 

[FNG_that's me]

Bill Gates does not have a college degree.

And you're not Bill Gates.

This is like people who don't wear seatbelts because they know someone who was thrown from a crash and would have been killed if they had been wearing the belt. A statistical anomaly.

Don't let one datapoint skew your view of what can make you successful in this world. Does a college degree automatically make you smart? No. Does it make you a smarter person than you were without it. Yes.

Do you need a college degree to be as rich as Bill Gates? Not if you're Bill Gates.
If you're making tons of dollars and don't have a degree...don't waste your time getting one. But Bill Gates not having one is not an excuse to put in the effort to improve your position in life.

 

[jimcav]

800dog what's with your hang up over those with a college degree? You sound like one of those lifelong nerds who made fun of the dumb jocks when you were younger. The great thing about this profession is the cross section of fine folks we work with. Some better educated than others. I judge a fellow pilot by his professionalism, not how he looks on paper. I have flown with the intellectual types (who are not shy in letting you know how brilliant they are) who can't even land on the centerline or worse yet can't even fly pitch and power. I have also flown with the types that you loathe who have common sense and an inate ability to fly the hell out of an airplane. These qualities along with good situational awareness are what make a good pilot. Come down off your high horse man. I hate to sound cocky because I know that one day the guy facing the pay cut and the lifestyle change could be me, and I truly feel for those in that position right now. That being said if you think that 140k a yr plus 10.5 B fund contribution and 16-17 days off a month with 3 weeks vacation is that bad then please stay the hell away from AirTran cause I sure don't want to fly with you. We have a ton of folks who have walked a mile in your shoes that are happy to be here. I apologize if this rant sounds kinda dumb as I am not exactly among the intellectual elite.

 

[wndshr]

800 guy...


face the true facts sir....you are being recycled! learn to adapt or become extinct. nobody cares what you choose, and nobody cares what you have to say.

good luck

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Duane made references to the race to the bottom and lack of experienced pilots flying. Well if he really wants to do something, he could start a campaign to inform passengers that when they get on some flights the pilots don't always work for the company that is painted on the aircraft, and may have very different experience levels then they assumed.

Well, how about we do that. A major flaw in the Air Line Pilot thinking is ALPA should do this or that....

Why not every pilot do as you suggest. You got 100,000 Air Line Pilots out there...why not educate the passengers... I don't think there is much of a retrun on the effort...

Rather we should be focusing our efforts on legislation. How about a getting senators to sponser bills that protect and promote the Air Line Pilot Profession.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

the harsh reality is this: Airline pilots possess a skill that's very much like a trade; we practice our trade and our employers compensate us with $$$. All of us are expendable, no different from one another. We all dream for the "good old days", the days of Pan Am, Eastern, TWA. But those days are long gone and as much as I hate to admit it I must roll with the punches and change with the times. Right now I still feel being an airline pilot is worth it. The day that I feel it's not worth it I'll pack it up and go sell real estate or be a greeter at Wal Mart but I promise you won't find me on this form blaming my fellow pilots for my woes with disparaging remarks!!!

One reason ALPA isn't considered just a trade union is because of it's Air Safety and Engineering dept. This part of ALPA is quite respectable and they bring something to the table. It has been said ALPA is the conscience of the air line industry. This is the self policing professional facet that ALPA brings and give us a little more repsect than just a trade union. Embrace it or reject it, but it is what it is...

Did you know that ALPA was instrumental in forming the predecessor to the NTSB?

 

[SUNDOWN]

Actually Cuz, you seem clueless. Is 4th year captain pay at Jetblow not $118hr?(4th yr. based on your previous post) Absolutely pathetic! Do you have a contract? Other than the 5 year agreement signed with the company I mean. Did I say anything about you cleaning airplanes? Dumping the lavs? 25 cents per gallon? You seem awfully defensive. I suppose I would as well if I was whoring myself out to the lowest bidder. Enjoy it bro. I know you will, because your expectations are much lower than those of us who busted our asses to earn a degree as well as our flight training. Again, you are as much the enemy as management, probably worse!

800..WHERE did you say you work?

 

[AAflyer]

?????

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

Yeah, wages have come down.

It's the American public, politics, and our economic system (national and global) that caused it. You got a hint of the problem when you saw the protests recently on CNN about the war and globalization of the economy. I think the protest was mostly about globalization. Without all the pay cuts (not just airline employees) or job displacements to companies with lower compensation, there would not be so much unrest.

Like ALPA/Duane Worth or not, his politicing for higher paid pilots can't be a bad thing. I just hope he does it in a manner that might do some good. We need to get our message out.

Like others have said, times have changed and we're all trying to make the best of it.



Midnight Mike,

Duane can't say JetBlue pilots are not ALPA because he isn't a JetBlue spokesman? Grow up.

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton try to speak for "their people" all the time. But everyone I know, of all creeds or color, dislike them very much. This is America. People can make public statements about anything they want, as long as they aren't untrue, and its o.k. They don't have to be the "official" spokesman. As long as it qualifies as infotainment the press will print or show it.

 

[zonker]

Yeah, wages have come down.

It's the American public, politics, and our economic system (national and global) that caused it. You got a hint of the problem when you saw the protests recently on CNN about the war and globalization of the economy. I think the protest was mostly about globalization. Without all the pay cuts (not just airline employees) or job displacements to companies with lower compensation, there would not be so much unrest.

Like ALPA/Duane Worth or not, his politicing for higher paid pilots can't be a bad thing. I just hope he does it in a manner that might do some good. We need to get our message out.

Like others have said, times have changed and we're all trying to make the best of it.



Midnight Mike,

Duane can't say JetBlue pilots are not ALPA because he isn't a JetBlue spokesman? Grow up.

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton try to speak for "their people" all the time. But everyone I know, of all creeds or color, dislike them very much. This is America. People can make public statements about anything they want, as long as they aren't untrue, and its o.k. They don't have to be the "official" spokesman. As long as it qualifies as infotainment the press will print or show it.

Good post. The problem is trying to figure out where the bottom is in this mess. It seems to be on an accelerated pace and nothing is being done to correct the problem.

Someone wrote on here recently that charity from labor will not overcome exorbitant oil and low fares. That's the truth. We've reached the point where "inefficiencies from deregulation" have been worked out and now they're just destroying peoples lives. Infuriating.