Is this forum the reason pilots are getting paid less?

[FishandFly]

Any chance that there is a relationship between pay-scales and the maturity/morality of some pilots on this board?

I'm sure the moderators can not sreen members based on their stupidity levels, but if this is representative of where aviation is going we're screwed.

 

[Cadillac]

you misspelled screen as "sreen."

 

[kngarthur]

you misspelled screen as "sreen."

Oh that's really mature!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bafanguy]

FishandFly,


You've raised a very interesting question...and I don't have the answer. But I think you've touched on a pretty interesting sociological issue that involves how the internet has changed the world we live in; this forum, the people on it, and what they have to say represent the effect of that change.

This medium of communication provides a couple of things the world didn't have before the internet. First, it is a source of information from literally all over the world. For all the flaws you might see here, there is a limitless source of knowledge, information, and occasionally wisdom ( even on flightinfo.com ); there is great value in this. As a guy who spent 30+ years of his life at a major carrier, I've learned worlds of things about other segments of aviation that were off limits to me without this medium of commmunication. I just didn't have access to the people who knew all the stuff I didn't. Unfortunately, a lot of what I've learned does not bode well for me personally, but that's another subject.

The second aspect of this forum is what it shows about human nature and the part the internet plays in the how we interact with the world. If you think about some of the "stuff" you've seen people say here, it's pretty ghastly; the name calling, personal insults, blasts of angst and fear. People could never say these things in a situation where their identity is known in any way because they'd pay a social/professional price that would be life altering. But in this medium, the social mask we all are forced to put up in all other aspects of our lives is not required. Here, YOU GET TO SEE WHO WE REALLY ARE; no fear of reprisals for anti-social, unpopular, whacko, irrational, fear-driven feelings and opinions. And this is, perhaps, what makes this forum so interesting...unbridled human nature given free reign. Maybe you like it; maybe you don't, but it's pretty interesting stuff.

When I first stumbled across this forum, I heard people say things like, "...its' just an internet forum, what does it matter what people say ?" Well, I think it does matter because it shows you whom you're really dealing with out there in the real world if they didn't have to put up that social mask. And maybe we're all just a bit wiser for knowing this. Just maybe...

My suspicion is that people have always been people but we didn't know what that was because we didn't get to see very many of them as they really are. Now we get to see that and you can make of it what you will.

I consider this place an education I didn't have before...and the tuition is correctly priced. If you love aviation you'll want to hear what your fellows think and feel because they are you on many, and sometimes disquieting, levels. I don't feel the need to assault people for their differing views, but I still want to know what those views are.

Does what you've seen here portend a bad fate for aviation ? I doubt it because what you see here has always been with you...you just didn't know it was there.

 

[VVJM265]

bafanguy,

Nicely put.

 

[Sig]

You know, nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Why, my grandfather instructed in WWII in P-38s. He thought it was a grand idea to chase skirts at all costs and imbibe as much booze at the cost of as many liver cells as possible. He admitted to flying hammered more than once, and one of those times was in a plane he hadn't flown before. He was one kill short of an ace. He flew every aircraft with a persuit designation, and I treasure his phenomenally detailed logbook as a totem.

He is still kicking, and quite hard.

There are two extremes in your arbitrary continuum: The starched "white glove" captain who can't crack a smile, and the disgusting slob who is trying to get the aforementioned pilot to laugh by cracking the loudest f^rts possible.

Both are jerks.

Neither are as big a jerk as the critic who couldn't fill either of their shoes.

 

[FishandFly]

While I agree that the internet is a venue for people to voice their opinions I do not agree that it has always been like this. I may be the eternal optimist, but I believe that there was a time prior to my arriving that was filled with people who loved to fly and acted on a different level than is commonplace today.

A while back I brought up an analogy concerning the proper wearing of a uniform. While a lot of us do not care what we look like in the black suit, I paralleled the fact that firemen, doctors, etc. hold a high standard of pride in what they do and that it naturally translated into them being professional.

I am willing to bet that you will not find a forum of surgeons, dentists, etc. where there is the lack of professionalism that is found here. Those who want to bring being a professional pilot to the level of high school theatrics have logic that I will never agree with.

If everyone starts acting like me we may all turn into the starched "white glove" captain who can't crack a smile, if the other side prevails we may run aviation into a group of disgusting slobs as Sig put it. My confusion is why this dilema exists in the first place and what I can do to lead us to the path of those true professionals who take pride in what they do.

 

[FN FAL]

A while back I brought up an analogy concerning the proper wearing of a uniform. While a lot of us do not care what we look like in the black suit, I paralleled the fact that firemen, doctors, etc. hold a high standard of pride in what they do and that it naturally translated into them being professional.

Which airline wears a black suit?

 

[sqwkvfr]

I don't know about the original question, but I always find it interesting to see the high number of "guests" that are almost constantly reading the "majors" and "regionals" forums.

I can't help but wonder how many management types are looking in.....

 

[Sig]

Fish:

The thing about your post that irritates me more than the word "morality" is the fact that you are speaking of pilots in the third person. It means one of two things:

A) You are not a pilot; or
2) You think you're above the rabble on this board.

Re-read my first post. It was a jab at you.

The very title of this thread is a joke! "What one thing is the cause of low pilot wages?? Hmm... I know! That durned forum! Praise Jesus, and thank Him for making me the insightful question-asker that I am."

Go out there and fight for higher wages, oh champeen! Show us all how to take the high road in all things, including a faceless forum where people vent, share information and stories (Duke Elegant!!), and just jibjab about the usual BS that goes along with this insane profession.

I can't stand arrogant pilots who thump their chest about whom they are and what they do, but I REALLLLLLLYYYYYY can't stand an arrogant wannabe. You're one of the two, but I suspect both.

Want to know why wages are what they are? Because we work for them. Plane (HAH) and simple. Everything else is window dressing, so I'll say it again: Wages are at their current levels because we're willing to work for them... not because of a forum and the antics therein. It is not a symptom, there is no causality between this forum and wages, and it certainly isn't a question of "morality."

I have an early show to make now, so I'll end this rant here.