I've been making deposits in the bank of experience: education & training- CA Sully

[CopilotDoug]

The military has standards. Anyone cannot be a military pilot. ANYONE and I mean ANYONE can go to a pilot factory like Gulfstream or Delta Connection Academy and get all their ratings.

Interesting. The military pilots I have spoken with seem to think that anyone...yes, ANYONE can be a military pilot. Get over yourself, Hot Shot.

 

[The Prussian]

Well duh, a Marine isn't happy unless he can claim his job is tougher and his circumstances suck worse than everyone else's. So Marine aviators are leaving the Marines in droves to become civilian aviators... because it sucks the most.

Now that brought a smile to my face!...:laugh:

 

[SkiFishFly]

I think you guys are focusing on the wrong part...

The important thing Sully is using his 15 minutes to say is that airlines have cut pay, pensions and quality of life so much that they are no longer attracting "the best and brightest" into aviation.
He is trying to help get the word out that the further erosion of pay and work rules is not the way to go.

 

[GuppyWN]

Every airplane that has departed the prepared surface at WN has been driven by and Air Force pilot.

I don't know if it's a coincidence or shear numbers of ex military on the seniority list.

Gup

 

[slapstick]

a quote from the great Ernest Gann, from "Old Number One". Still rings true today:

"Yet Slonnie was incapable of snobbism, nor did he subscribe to the prevalent airline pilot hauteur as a standard for his own estimation of other flying men. I have heard him lament, with full complement of rueful gestures, "Hell...that man will NEVER learn to fly!" Often enough he was referring to a ten- or fifteen-thousand hour airline veteran, and when I stopped to consider the addressees of Slonnie's invective, I could only agree. The typical man he scorned was indeed a pilot, a rough and mechanically thinking driver totally preoccupied with the pay and seniority aspects of his job. Such a man could tell you instantly his bidding prowess according to seniority, the pay details of every run on the system, the exact date of his retirement and the emoluments to be received thereof; but the runways all along his route were dented with his landings and his most elemental aerial maneuvers were erratic and uncertain.

 

[IBNAV8R]

They all want Sully. But they won't PAY for Sully.

Sadly, it all comes down to whether the public will: 1). Insist on it; and 2). pay for it. Look at seat comfort, leg room, food, china, excellent customer service, larger planes, on-time performance, amenities, etc. Oh, they will bitch about not getting it. But, they won't pay an extra dime, or switch loyalties, to get it. And, this industry knows that.

 

[Motive Flow]

They all want Sully. But they won't PAY for Sully.

Sadly, it all comes down to whether the public will: 1). Insist on it; and 2). pay for it. Look at seat comfort, leg room, food, china, excellent customer service, larger planes, on-time performance, amenities, etc. Oh, they will bitch about not getting it. But, they won't pay an extra dime, or switch loyalties, to get it. And, this industry knows that.

Yep. The flying public will heap praise on Sully until he brings up pilot pay. Then they will immediately go deaf to anything he says.

Hate to be a Debbie Downer on this, but as long as the pax get their $99 ticket, they don't care who sits up front. It could be Short-Round from "Indiana Jones" or Stevie Wonder for all they care.

 

[Colonel Savage]

Every airplane that has departed the prepared surface at WN has been driven by and Air Force pilot.

I don't know if it's a coincidence or shear numbers of ex military on the seniority list.

Gup

Navy guys are IMHO the best group of ex-military types to fly with, including the occasional ex-Marines (part of the Navy, I know).
Navy guys have a definate leadership quality about them, they instill a spirit of cooperation among the entire crew that often is refreshing, and seem to understand the advantanges of real team work in getting a difficult job done.

 

[GINCHBLASTER]

Oh my god please don't let this get in to a civilian vs. military thread. It isn't what Sully was saying. He was saying that when you pay people lower wages and benefits, you get lower quality workers. That's why he's concerned about the future of his profession. The people that have a good head on their shoulders are going to do something else, because they know that being a pilot isn't worth it anymore.

 

[vetrider]

This will all pass like it always has, its nothing more than a 15 minute discussion. If things are so bad, why is Sully wasting his time gracing the aviation industry with his presence?

Back in the glamour days we had great pilots and average at best pilots, much like we do now? We're all making a big production over nothing.

I'm not trying to belittle us, but looking at it from the outside that's what I see. Not saying I like it either, its just what I see.