lifestyle

[Gulfstream 200]

bafanguy,

I truly believe that in your 30 years of airline flying you had respect for passengers.

Sorry, its just not too common anymore. I HAVE been practically pushed out of the way by pilots (and I was in First Class on a "legacy" carrier) leaving the aircraft. I have had downright RUDE F/A's and jumpseaters who gather in the aisles and spend 3 hours complaining about thier F'n contract, the compnay etc,etc,etc..all in full ear of me and other First Class pax..."uh, can I get a water please".....

There was a time when flying the airlines was almost enjoyable and there was respect given to/by flight crews. But Sorry, those days are LOOONG gone at the "legacy" carriers. I can say that I have have gotten 10X better service on a $99 LCC flight than I have gotten on a $2500 "legacy" flights....sad but true - and nowadays, thier stock prices reflect thier service. Just an observation.

I dont blame the crews per say, its more complicated than that of course. I can see how its hard to smile when 60's style management is ruining your personal future....

but, as a paying passenger, I dont care about your woes...save it for the bar at the hotel.


And no, I dont have anti-airline pilot bias, in fact I was an airline pilot for a brief time (couldnt afford it!) and if you have read my posts in the past to "newbies" I always suggested shooting for the very best job in the industry - a very senior airline captain.

 

[bafanguy]

gulfstream 200,


Good to hear back from you. I can't account for what happens aft of the cockpit door, service-wise. I've always thought letting bystanders ( even hotel van drivers ) hear you whine about your job, contract, etc. is VERY poor form. As for the treatment you get from F/A's, legacy vs LCC, enjoy it while you can. It'll be interesting to hear from you a few years down the road when the "bloom is off the rose" with the LCC's and the cute, young things figure out what they've got hold of. Humans are complicated and unpredictable creatures so their behavior is often puzzling. But with the state of the airline industry, I can see where the hard feelings of employees come from; I just can't see inflicting them on the cash customers !!

As for the pilots rushing by you to exit the airplane, we frequently had tight turn times with long distances between gates. It was a way of life in ATL, DFW, CVG, SLC or any hub. This wouldn't be obvious to the pax. So, we could stand there for another 10 minutes and be sociable...and keep the next planeload waiting by not using our limited time appropriately, or we could show a little respect for the next group of pax and get over to the OB gate ASAP. This is the most-likely reason for seeing the pilots leave before YOU.

So, if you can AVOID the legacy carriers and fly AirTran...

 

[Stearmandriver]

and keep the next planeload waiting by not using our limited time appropriately, or we could show a little respect for the next group of pax and get over to the OB gate ASAP. This is the most-likely reason for seeing the pilots leave before YOU.

Or, it's the last leg of a four day, you haven't seen your family in a week 'cause you've been stuck sitting reserve in some godforsaken hub like EWR or IAH, and you've got 15 minutes to make the last commute home.

Frankly, I see nothing more in your comment than an anti-airline pilot bias and can't imagine why you would harbor such an attitude. I don't hear airline pilots making snide remarks about corp pilots.

Joking, right? How many times have you heard airline guys at hubs snipe on the radio about having to follow a business aircraft, at what they consider to be their airline's "domain." I hear it at O'Hare ALL the time.
"American 123, transition to the south side of the pad, get in line behind the Citation."
Moment of silence, then a sigh..."OK, we'll follow the little guy..."

I don't agree with what falconpilot said regarding airline pilots finishing out on top. I currently am just a right seat guy down in West Palm Beach, FL on a Falcon 200, but my pay is almost double than 12 of my buddies that have been doing the airline puddle jump shuffle from San Juan for American or Newark for Continental. Granted I know that there pay will increase over time, but take for example one of my buddies has been with Cont. Exp for 5 years and is just now taking home 2gs a month, and the kicker is he's 32! So, I sit back and say "OK, he will definetly be making 6 figures at some point, but WHEN!", and in that time from the time i'm 21 starting at $35 a year until i'm 32 who is ahead of who? Sure, you can say corporate is unstable which is true, but on the other hand who in the airlines has been laid off in the past 5 years? Somebody, please stand up!! Because, you know it's true that a whole hell of alot of guys have been laid off! And, what have they gotten from that lovely airline experience???? No type in an airplane, **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ty slow plane, in a **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ty place, waiting on a **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ty schedule, to go stay in a **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ty hotel all to say " One of these days..........I'll be making 200gs a year! " Ahhhhhhh......Life IS GOOD!!!

This post reflects a lack of understanding about what the "regionals" have become. Now, I fly for CoEx, and you are completely right about our pay. It's deplorable. However, we aren't doing cleveland-toledo in brasilias anymore... we're doing Cleveland-Denver, Houston-Palm Springs, Newark-St. Johns etc. in jets. So, we're in complete agreement about the quality of life issues at the airlines, and that's the reason I'm looking to go corporate, but it's not entirely accurate to say "Sh*tty slow plane, in a sh*tty place, waiting on a sh*tty schedule..." That's what makes the pay so pathetic. We're doing major airline flying, and they still pay us like we're flying freakin Beeches.

Bafanguy is right... the airlines WERE a good career. They still will be, once all the dust settles from this latest hiccup (I'd guess around 10 years from now?). They just don't really fit what I'm looking for anymore. I never got into aviation to get rich (darn good thing, huh?), just to make a decent living, be able to support a family etc. All I'm looking for now is a job in the area we want to live, that pays the bills and gives me enough time at home to enjoy my life and my family. The airlines aren't giving me ANY of that right now. If/when I find a corp. place that does, I'm outta here... and I'll be the most loyal employee that corporation ever had!

Joe

 

[bafanguy]

stearmandriver,


I've got to disagree a bit with your take on things. With DAL in ATL, a lot of the pilots commute but I can't recall anyone "...pushing the pax out of the way to get off..." to make a commute home. I didn't commute farther than Stone Mountain, GA, but I can't remember any F/O's mistreating pax in the interest of making a commute home; that would've rubbed ME the wrong way and I'd have put a stop to it.

As for "...follow the little guy...", come on, Man. That does NOT refer to one's intellect, airmanship, value in aviation, manliness, or anything else negative. Been in the cockpit of a big airplane on a taxiway ? A guy in a Citation is, in fact, by comparison, a "...little guy..." The term does NOT mean the airline guy feels MORE entitled to be there and have better treatment from ATC than the corp guy. We all think we should not have to follow anybody...just keep moving without hindrance. It's a desire to keep the show on the road.

And...airline pilots have no earthly reason to look down their noses at corp guys...and THEY DO NOT !! Corp guys have better layovers and do more interesting flying in better, cooler, and often, more sophisticated airplanes than most airline guys. Size doesn't matter ( I'll keep saying that until my wife believes it ).

More to follow...some time...

 

[Stearmandriver]

Bafanguy, sorry if I offended you. Didn't mean to. I was in a hurry when I wrote that, and I see that I worded a couple things badly which I'l try to fix now, but I'm still in a hurry so hopefully I won't screw them up worse.

First, I was mostly kidding about catching the last commute. Those of us who commute understand the darn near heroic measures we'll take to get home, but I agree that it should never come at a passenger's expense.

I stand by the "little guy" comment. I understand what you're saying that it's usually not meant to be derogatory, but I've heard times when it certainly was. Not so much WHAT was said as the WAY it was said. But, there are a few jerks everywhere. I didn't mean to say that I thought most airline pilots had anything against corp. pilots. Sorry if it came out like that.

Lastly, something no one's mentioned yet but I'd like to clarify. I made a coment about mgmt treating us like we're still flying "freakin Beeches." This was a bit of frustration slipping out about the fact that our mgmt. doesn't want to acknowledge that we might deserve a bit of a raise. We've gone from an 800 pilot operation flying turboprops to a 2500 pilot operation flying 300 jets, but they keep telling us, "you guys are just commuter pilots. You don't deserve any more money." Anyway, I didn't mean to slam Beeches or anyone who flies them. While I never flew the 1900, like most pilots I've got some king air time, and they're sweet planes.

Ok, hopefully enough damage control for one night.

Joe

 

[bafanguy]

stearmandriver,


Absolutely no offense taken...