Wow, this post really picked up the last few days I was away from the internet. Several people have said that it is easy for me to change my mind about PFT after I have already beniffited from it and got a job. You know what, you're right. I can't argue with that, nor will I try. If you want to think that I am being disingenuous, go right ahead. If I'm asked about GIA during a future job interview, I'll just tell them the truth: I was told by marketing people at the beginning of my career that GIA was the best way to an airline job, and being unfamiliar with the industry, I believed them.
After working at GIA for a couple of years and spending time on this board, my opinions have changed about the PFT issue. If you want to believe I'm lying, that's fine. Think what you want. Ironically though, working at GIA is what made me so militant on union issues. Having worked in a non-union company managed by scabs has changed my views on many things. It really makes you understand how important unions like ALPA are.
Someone mentioned that I would not be so willing to forgive a scab or a Freedumb pilot if they said they are sorry for what they did, as I have. Not true. I know one EAL scab who crossed the line in '89. He was hired off the street, he was not a previous EAL pilot. He was not familiar at all with the issues surrounding EAL or any of the other airlines at the time. He was simply a pilot living in FLA that got one of Lorenzo's mass-mailers that offered pilot jobs to anyone with a comm/multi inst and a specified amount of TT. He thought it was a great opportunity because he didn't understand everything behind it. He later came to regret his decision after he learned how things work in this industry and why EAL pilots were striking. I hold no grudge against this pilot. However, I don't just forgive anyone because they say they regret what they did. I want to know the reasons they regret it. I know another EAL scab who claims to regret his decision to cross the line. His reason? It hurt his career. He doesn't care that he stabbed his fellow pilots in the back, all he cares about is his career going down the toilet. I DON'T forgive him.
Bottom line is this: You can forgive me or not. There's nothing I can do to make you forgive me. I now realize that a company making profit off of someone trying to get a job is completely immoral. I also understand that a pilot trying to get ahead by using his checkbook is wrong. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do to make what I did a few years ago go away.
People can change, the past cannot. I've changed alot of my opinions after spending a few years in this industry. My past however has not changed, and never will. I can't change that, I'm sorry.