It had to be said

[FrontierFan]

WHY AIRLINE PILOTS SHOULD MAKE $200,00 (OR MORE)

THIS WAS WRITTEN YEARS AGO BUT MUCH REAMAINS TRUE!

For all of you jealous people out there who whine about the labor struggle

occurring at Delta Airlines, and soon several others, listen up: The

airline business is an equal opportunity career field. Airlines, including

Delta, American and United are hiring loads of pilots right now. You, too,

can find yourself in the cockpit of a 767, 727, 777 or any other commercial

aircraft out there in the skies. The airlines hire regardless of race,

religion, age or sex. They are literally the epitome of the equal

opportunity employer. All it takes is enough intelligence to obtain an

application, fill it out and send it back to personnel for

consideration. That's it!! Then you may be offered an entry level

position as a pilot with any of the airlines, at a starting pay of $25,000

- 28,000 per year. Congratulations.....You're on the start of your flying

career.......Or are you????

Let's see, the current qualification requirements to even be called in for

an interview, are as follows: 4 year college degree (no problem, if you

have a home computer in order to participate in this cyber dribble then

you've got that); physically able to pass an FAA Class 1 exam (assuming

that you don't spend all of your time sitting on your brains at the

computer, then maybe you'll be able to pass.); and oh yeah, you've got to

have completed the Flight Engineer written exam, have multi-engine,

commercial / instrument ratings and it wouldn't hurt to have the Airline

Transport Rating (typed in something larger than your Lazy Boy recliner).

Generally speaking, the current averages of new hire pilots at the airlines

are: 3,300 hours total flying time, 2,700 hours multi-engine/turbo, with

1,200 hours pilot-in-command What??? You don't have the minimum

qualifications to even be called in for an interview???!!! Well get off

your lazy can and go get qualified. Remember, age is not a factor. You

can be 60 years old and still get hired as a Flight Engineer - sorry the

federal government says you can't fly past age 60, but you can be a plumber

(sic: Flight Engineer).

Over 95 percent of the pilots at Delta Air Lines have military

backgrounds. That's all you have to do.....join the military, go to pilot

training and spend 9 years on active duty flying airplanes. You'll be able

to build the hours of experience necessary to qualify for the airlines, get

paid while you're doing it and get to see the world at the same

time. What???? Can't get selected to go to pilot training because of the

incredibly stringent requirements to get through the door???!!! Oh, don't

want to PAY THE PRICE of having to serve your country, subject to the needs

of the service and move every 2-3 years. Even then, you don't know whether

or not the airlines will be hiring when you finally gain enough experience

and complete your contract with Uncle Sam!

Just what are those high entrance standards? Let's see. For every pilot

slot there are approximately 50 who apply. From those selected, they enter

a flight screening (a.k.a. washout) program that eliminates half of the

group. From there you go on to Undergraduate Pilot Training (for the Air

Force, the Navy has a similar program under a different name) for an entire

year. Work hard, because only two out of three that enter graduate. Let's

do some quick math. You are in a room with a group of people who all want

to become military pilots. In fact, there are 150 of you. Guess

what? Two years later only one of you will get to walk across a stage and

get your wings pinned on. Ouch. Then you get to hit the operational

side. Whoa, first you've got to get through RTU (Training unit, about a 5%

washout rate here). Now, you are off to the real world, training to fight

or flying operational missions.

Now, after nine years of this, the airline career is ahead of you. Wait a

minute, I just glossed over one minor area. You see, you have to SURVIVE

your time on active duty. Let's look at one squadron and the facts. This

squadron of 40 pilots lost one pilot a year for four years. I know these

numbers are correct because I was in that squadron. Do the math and you

see that the odds of simply surviving a four year tour are approximately

90%. Those odds don't seem so bad, unless you are the one whose life

depends on it. Those might seem like just statistics, but go to a few

funerals, see the widows and children, and that 90% takes on a whole new

meaning. And guess what, those numbers don't even take into account a real

live war, and I'm not talking about the wars the stock traders talk about

in the stock pits. They use real live bullets in this shooting match.

Ah, no problem, if you can't or won't make it via the military route, then

you can always go the civilian path to the airlines..... Remember those

hours of experience???? If not, your short-term memory is in doubt, which

may be a factor in your abilities to fly airplanes and make

life-threatening decisions - reread four paragraphs previous. Those

averages of 3,300 hours don't come free on the civilian side of the

equation either. You'll probably need to start flying as soon as you get

your drivers license in order to build those levels of hours before your

life times out on the mortality tables. It'll cost you at least $2,000 to

get your basic flying license: single engine, land; capable of avoiding

clouds, weather less than clear and a million miles visibility, severe

crosswinds and minimum night. Now, congratulations, you've got about 40-60

hours towards that 3,300.....get going, you've got a ways to go.

Start paying for some more flying time, sport. It'll cost you 30-40

dollars per hour to rent a single engine Piper to fly your buddies around

and look at the cornfields. Figure it out genius, it's going to be

expensive to build several thousand hours. And don't forget, even if mom

and dad are footing the bill for you, 3,000 hours of Piper Cherokee time

won't get you through American, United, Delta or anyone else's doors for a

peek at the application stack!! That's right, you're going to have to get

those other ratings. No problem. You're a smart person. Just buy some

more Instructor time, study some more stacks of books, go to more ground

schools, shell out several thousand more dollars, spend thousands of hours

studying some more, get that dual instruction time, take more tests, pass

more physicals and you'll get that Instrument rating - maybe in that same

Piper Cherokee. Congratulations! But guess what.....that's right, you

still aren't close to being qualified.

You now have somewhere around 200-300 hours; enough to have the minimum

necessary to go for a Commercial license. So, you pay, study, fly, study,

pay, pay, pay, fly, pay, study, test, fly, pay, pay, fly, study,

test......and finally get your Commercial ticket. Great!! Now you can be

paid to fly - that'll help. But you still only have 300 or so hours

flying, not enough (remember 3,300 hours) to land a seat with the Big

Boys. Don't give up yet, oh Mr/Ms Wannabee, you're on your way. If you

want it bad enough, you'll keep going. If you don't want it bad enough,

YOU'LL QUIT, SIT BACK AND WHINE ABOUT THOSE THAT SUCCEED!!! Not you

though, you press on.... Get out the checkbook, buy some more time. You've

got to get that multi-engine experience in order to get hired by some

civilian company so you can build your time. You study, pay, fly

(multi-engine now - so double the hourly rate), pay, pay, fly, pay, study,

fly, pay, study, pay, pay some more, fly, test, study, fly, pay and finally

- you've got that multi-engine rating. So, with all those ratings now,

multi-engine, Instrument and the all important, Commercial ticket, you can

get a job flying airplanes.

Oh, not for the airlines; hell, the commuters won't even touch you

yet. But you might land yourself a job hauling canceled checks for some

company. That'll be working the boneyard shift - midnight to 6 a. m. But

you'll get paid minimum wage to fly (and build those hours). Remember,

you're determined to get qualified for the Majors!! Or maybe you'll get

hired to fly parachute jumpers. That'll get you a couple of hours per

day. It's probably not turbo prop time, but it counts towards the

total. No matter, if you work real hard, fly all the time (you do have to

have some minimum rest as required by the FAA) you may be able to build

1,000 hours per year! At some point in time though, my future aviation

professional friend, you've got to get that turbine / jet engine

time. Yep, pay, pay, study, fly, test, pay, fly, test, pay, pay and more

pay. Finally, you've beat through the trenches of aviation to get enough

hours and experience to qualify for a position flying as a co-pilot for one

of the commuter airlines like ASA, ComAir, American Eagle or United

Express. You apply, interview and get hired!! Again, congratulations -

you've made another hurdle.

 

[FrontierFan]

Part II

Now you're building that commercial aviation experience. Oh, by the way,

you're only making $14,000 per year starting - if you're lucky!! You'll

get to do this for at least 2 - 3 years to build that 3,000 hours of

experience and at some point in time, move over to the left seat to build

that pilot-in-command (PIC) time. Looking at the years of struggling to

this point, you're probably wishing you had gone the military route - of

course, you didn't choose that option!!

So you press on.... Now, regardless of whether you went the military or

civilian route, there's been some substantial risks. Throughout your

career you've been subjected to annual physicals (in some cases, every 6

months) that could have easily disqualified you, forever, from your chosen

aviation career field. On top of that, guess what, the FAA has been

closely watching you every step of the way. Fail to pass the written exams

- you're history. Fail to pass the orals - you're history. Fail to pass

the flying tests - you're history. No pressure. There's more....your FAA

friends have a whole stack of books of regulations governing your life as a

pilot and the operation of every single airplane you lift off the ground.

Here's the risk: SCREW UP ONE TIME, JUST ONCE, AND BREAK AN AIRPLANE, HURT

SOMEONE, OR JUST COME CLOSE - AND THEY TAKE YOUR LICENSES AWAY FROM

YOU. FOREVER !!!! They don't care how many years and thousands of dollars

you spent getting to this point in your career......they don't care how

badly you want to become a commercial airline pilot, ........you can beg,

plead, get down on your whiny knees and cry.......THEY DON'T CARE

!! YOU'RE HISTORY!!!! Congratulations, your lifetime of work has just

been trashed for a simple mistake. Unfortunately, there are no big margins

of error in this business. Unlike working at McDonalds, or as a marketing

rep selling coat hangers, or some computer geek writing software or selling

shoes at Macys, when you screw up, you stand the risk of KILLING

PEOPLE! This ain't no PUSS GAME!! But it's okay, you knew the risks, the

requirements, the qualifications. YOU KNEW THE PRICE YOU'D HAVE To

PAY!! And you also knew how easily it could all be jerked out from under

you. So you've chosen to spend your LIFETIME studying to remain highly

qualified and to get eligible for another step in the professional aviation

ladder. It goes with the territory.

But there are rewards commensurate with your choice. For one: you love to

fly! That's why you're here. Second: there is a chance that someday, if

all goes well, you may make it to the Majors and earn a good living, again,

commensurate with being a professional pilot. And besides, if this were

easy to do, EVERYONE WOULD BE DOING IT!! The requirements to cut it in

this business make it such that it automatically weeds out the sniffling

wannabees. You either have the mental and physical abilities coupled with

the desire and DETERMINATION or you're sitting on the sideline

-WHINING!! After 9 years on active duty in the military, or the equivalent

on the civilian side, you've gotten the licenses and experience qualifying

you to apply at the Majors. Unfortunately, the major airlines aren't like

Exxon gas stations: there simply isn't one on every street corner hiring

someone to pump gas. Any one airline is probably hiring no more than 1,000

pilots per year - and that's a really big year. You may think you have

what they're looking for, but guess what, so does every other pilot

applying for that position. So the competition just elevated to another

notch higher. Odds are more in favor of you NOT getting hired than of

getting hired!! After two or three airline interviews, you might get lucky

and get hired by a startup carrier - paying less than a person on the UAW

assembly line. No problem, you'll keep applying to the other carriers even

though you generally only have one opportunity. A NO is generally a no for

the rest of your career. But you'll keep trying.

Even if you do get lucky and hired by a Major, there's more years of dues

to pay, studying, hard work, long days, short nights and hurdles to

cross. The FAA not only watches you on paper, they sit on your jumpseat

and watch over your shoulder. They analyze, criticize and evaluate every

move you make. They're there for your orals, writtens, simulator checks

and rating rides. They show up unannounced any time they choose. They

check you and recheck you; sometimes two days in a row from different

examiners. One big error now, sport, and you don't get bumped back to the

Minors, you get bounced out on your ass!! You again accept the fact that

you've chosen to live a life in a profession that with any mistake you are

AUTOMATICALLY GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT!!

But it's okay, because the risks are high, therefore the standards must be

even higher!! You're no longer talking about dinging in your little

Cherokee with your buds on board. Were talking about anywhere from 100 to

400 passengers (depending on the airplane) on board who are betting their

lives that you MEET OR EXCEED THOSE HIGH STANDARDS. They're betting that

when that engine fails, the hydraulic system quits or the flight controls

stop working that you have the knowledge, experience and highly

trained skill to safely land that airplane on a short runway, in weather

that you wont take your Honda Accord out in to buy your pizza. Therein

lies the blessing and the problem: passengers.

 

[FrontierFan]

Part III

Since deregulation, the prices for tickets have become increasingly

competitive. In fact, the cut throat marketing schemes of some airlines

have caused tickets prices to be so low that it is now cheaper to fly than

to take the Greyhound bus. Hence, the business takes on the look and feel

of mass transportation. More competition, lower ticket prices, more

passengers. Through the process we've lowered the standards. Average

ticket prices down, thus reduced revenues, and consequently a huge

reduction in the standard of service. The simple fact of the matter,

people, is that you cannot expect to get 1st class service for below

Greyhound prices on your tickets. You don't go to the Cadillac dealer and

expect to pay Yugo prices. Here's an economic question for you: when you

go to the grocery store, the gas station, make a long distance telephone

call, buy a new modem or a new pair of shoes, do you think you pay LESS for

that product or service than what it costs the business to SUPPLY

it? Nope. But the marketing gurus in the airlines business sell seats for

less than it costs to produce them.

So costs are out of sight. Gotta lower the overhead. We'll cut back on

our service: no meals, minimum number of flight attendants to provide

service, fewer agents, etc. In fact, we'll out source everything we can to

lower costs. We'll lay off tens of thousands of dedicated and loyal

employees so we can contract with outside companies to fuel our planes,

clean em, handle baggage and even work the gates. Those companies hire at

minimum wage and with no benefits. So guess what, there is no employee

loyalty, dedication or commitment. If it's a rainy, cold Saturday in

Chicago, the minimum wage ramp workers won't show up for work. What's the

contractor going to do, fire them and hire more minimum wage employees with

the same dedication? So your bags get lost, or stolen, or just don't get

put on the plane. The flight is late because there's not enough fuelers to

fuel the airplane. You're pissed because the flights late and it never

crosses your mind that it might be because of your $79.00 round trip

airfare from Chicago to Miami. You don't apply the same you get what you

pay for logic to your airline ticket that you do when you go shopping for a

new automobile. You expect to have your ass kissed for the $39.50 for that

flight segment. Hell, you can't buy a hooker to kiss your cheek for that

amount of money!! Guess what you think you can do for your $39.50?? You

feel like you have the constitutional right to defecate, urinate and vomit

in the seat; leaving it for someone else to clean up. You throw your trash

on the floor and walk away from it. You'll change your baby's diaper on

the tray table, wad up the pamper full of baby crap and leave it in the

seatback pocket. And then you whine that you're paying too much for your

ticket, the plane's late, or that seats are too cramped. Guess what?? I

wouldn't ride in your car and treat you that way - why treat the

professionals in the aviation community that way??!!

Because - YOU DONT CARE !!!! You want the most you can get for the least

you have to pay for it!

Unfortunately, the airline managements have cut back their services to the

point that they can't cut anymore. So they look to the only other source

of cutting - employee salaries and benefits. For the non-contract

(non-union) groups it's easy to scalp. They don't have any protection from

irresponsible management who are only interested in the bottom line. But

if you happen to be fortunate enough to have the protection of a

professional organization (unions like ALPA or APA) then its a little bit

tougher to slaughter. You see, even though management has reduced the

standards of the products they sell, the standard by which professional

pilots are subjected to have not been reduced!! The price pilots have had

to pay is still there. The risks and the requirements still remain.

Passengers may want the most they can get for the least dollar, but they

still want those pilots to have the experience/qualifications commensurate

with requirements of operating aircraft, full of passengers, in an intense

and risk filled environment! I hate to tell you this, sport, but that

doesn't come FREE!! If you want it, you've got to pay for it!! Now let's

fold in record profits being reaped by airline management. Not to mention

huge salaries and bonus for executives at the airlines. Without exception,

the salaries of professional pilots throughout the business have not kept

pace with the cost of living for the past decade. Simply put, airline

pilots are making less than they were 10 years ago, yet you keep charging

more each year for that new color TV, automobile, gallon of milk or tank of

gas. So, after 25 years of flying experience, tests, physical exams,

simulator checks, military service, etc., etc., I finally reach the left

seat of an airplane in the service of a commercial carrier. Yep, I also

get a 6 figure income.

Tell me, why shouldn't I??? If anyone could get here, then this profession

wouldn't have the added benefit of a nice salary. It doesn't require a

doctor the same number of years to get to 6 figures, yet, no one denies

that surgeon is worth every penny when you're laying on the table with your

chest sliced open and a rib splitter making a hole large enough to reach

through. And a surgeon only kills them one at a time when he screws

up!! I don't hear you whining about stockbrokers getting 6 figure

incomes. You don't seem to have any problem with paying $100 to take your

family to a professional baseball game to watch a 19 year-old play ball for

$1 million per year!! But for some reason, you are pissed off that

professional airline pilots are eventually compensated with a 6 figure

income. And you want to whine about their retirement? Statistically, only

1 out of every 3 pilots entering this profession will ever make it to

retirement. That's a 66 percent chance that I'll never see the lump-sum

numbers that you want to bitch about. And guess what, if it weren't for

collective bargaining, contracts, unions and federal regulations, reckless

managements would be robbing those retirement funds like Jesse James.

Thank goodness there are unions out there protecting the earned benefits of

professionals. So why shouldn't the pilots at American, United, Delta or

any other union carrier, fight for the survival of their

profession. Obviously managements have forgotten (or selectively forget)

what it took to get in the pilots seat (managements are predominately

non-pilots) and what it takes to remain there for a full

career. Executives would like to ignore their own high salaries, bonuses

and benefits and rather ignite the public and fellow employees against the

6 figure salaries of the professional pilots. So you, in your ignorance,

jump on that bashing bandwagon without being armed with the facts. The

fact of the matter is this: If you, or any other living, breathing, whining

non-achiever wants to make the 6 figure income of a professional pilot -

its an open door that's available to you. I've laid it out for you. It's

there for the taking. All you have to do is go for it.

You can't sit on the sideline and whine though. Whining won't get you into

the Captains seat on a B-767. You also can't leap from your Piper Cherokee

into the left seat of that MD-11 or B-727. There are no short cuts!! But

you can get there; many have made it. So can you. But if you don't want

it bad enough to pay the price, or you don't have the commitment,

dedication, enthusiasm or determination to get there.....then STOP YOUR

BITCHING! Because, you see, just as much as you obviously don't care what

it takes for an individual to make it to the left seat of a B-747 with 400

passengers on board, we don't give a rat's ass that you don't care

!! We'll do what we have to do to protect our profession, careers,

benefits and salaries. It wasn't a cake walk to get here.....that's

obvious because you're not among those that have SUCCEEDED. Have another

slice of pizza, flip to a different channel and stop bashing those who

chose a tougher career.

 

[b82rez]

I can't read all that...anyone have the cliff's notes???

 

[flyrunner80]

I guess the moral of the story is you get what you pay for?

 

[Captain Overs]

Part IV


Shut the f*** up!

 

[CUEBOAT]

this needs to be on the cover of the ny/la times, miami herald etc....

 

[CRJDog]

That is one huuuuuge post.

 

[capt. megadeth]

Yes, it needs to be on the front of every newspaper in the country but it needs to be shortened. There are a lot of good points in it but it would never hold the attention it needs because it is too long for the average person.

With that said.....
amen!

 

[((7))]

Or, pay for a sex change and become a Female, from a disadvantage village in Africa. In this case you can forget the other crap and go straight to the front of the line.