McCain Hates Pilots

[Sedona16]

If you are a pilot and you are trying to figure out how to reverse the downward spiral of the piloting profession I have no idea why you would vote for McCain. Just remember one of the only true measures of leverage we have as pilots is the threat of a strike (this akin to BK judges on managements side....and they used them liberally this last round). If McCain is in office you think he is going to allow the "greedy pilots" to get anywhere near a strike and therefore force the issue with pay rates and work rules?

"Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the former Republican presidential candidate and head of the influential Commerce Committee, opened a high-profile hearing by making clear there is plenty of blame to spread around. He cited "greedy" pilots, airline overscheduling, plodding regulators and politicians, and a public that resists new runways and airports for noise and other reasons."

 

[Sedona16]

PS- My personal opinion is that McCain lies through his teeth. His little "straight talk" song and dance has had holes poked through it all up and down on both sides already. Some people around here need to wise up. His service was greatly appreciated (and yes he does play it up from time to time). That event was then, this is now and this is the Presidency that entails the economy (which he recently admitted he knows little about) and host of other things (along with the ability to strike) on the line. I have always voted republican (much to my chagrin with Bush). If McCain is the Republican nominee I will vote for Obama.

 

[BOOZENEWS]

They did before 9/11 hit. Contract 2000 had end of contract top payrates of 345/hr. It's sad that so many pilots have already forgotten where our pay used to be. Everybody thinks current Fedex pay is the be all end all yet it's WAY below prior pay at Dal and Ual. We're our own worst enemies....

So true!! It's amazing that in 2006 the Fedex and UPS guys settled for far less than UAL 2000 yet both these corporations are far more profitable now than UAL, AA, DAL, etc were in 99-00!!

It is painfully obvious that the paycuts at the legacies put downward pressure on contract negotations at Fedex and UPS.

As good as your contract is at Brown and Purple, you NEVER should have accepted ANYTHING less than than the highest legace pre-9/11 plus inflation.

I hate to say it but the guys at brown and purple got played. Not trying to rag anyone down, just calling a spade a spade.

 

[AlbieF15]

Okay...I'll bite.

Part of the reason FDX and UPS guys chose those carriers over other options was A) long term stability due to the business model and B) a history of less labor strife.

I'm sorry if your bet on UAL or DAL didn't play out like you wanted, but a lot of guys decided to go with SWA or cargo company because THEY DON'T FURLOUGH as much.

$300 bucks an hour for captains is nice, but how long (really!) did those guys make those rates? Conversely...how long has a SWA captain or UPS captain who has been steadily employed for the last 7 years done?

I'm all about max pay for pilots. I put my money where my mouth is--and got involved in our union. However, what you need to look at besides PAY RATES is long term career earnings. There are different ways to get there...

We'll all pull together. But you can't look to everyone at other places to fix your compaines issues.

 

[pipe]

McCain doesn't come off to me as primping his POW experience (savage as his was) as somehow giving him a mantle on national security. However, he has specialized in national security for years as a senator, and he deserves some credit for seeing the flaws in Rumsfeld's non-strategy (and also seeing a way to repair the damage other than cutting and running) long before it became popular within the administration. Heaven only knows where Iraq would now stand had someone like Gates, and not Rumsie, been at DoD's helm from the outset.

Just saw a tv ad that started out with a picture of McCain in POW camp, talked about him being a POW, and then said that he's ready to be Commander-in-Chief because of it. (paid for by his candidacy)

You were saying?

PIPE

 

[Soulfly]

"Cut and Run". I love that soundbite.
If only we all took the time to educate ourselves.

Vietnam, no gain and we left. What happened? Did the country collapse. My father was there.

Remember, in late 1990 Dick Cheney said that invading and deposing of Saddam Hussein was opening "Pandoras Box" and the administration was against the idea. Hmmm...... Of cpourse times and ideas change. Ohh, that would be flip flopping. Another tasty soundbite.

PILOTS ARE THERE OWN WORST ENEMIES.
AND POLITICIANS AND AIRLINE CEO'S AND HEDGE FUND MANAGERS BANK ON IT EVERY SINGLE DAY!

When Cheney became eligible for the draft, he was a supporter of the Vietnam War but did not serve in the military. Instead, he applied for and received five draft deferments. In 1989, The Washington Post writer, George C. Wilson, interviewed Cheney as the next Secretary of Defense; when asked about his deferments, Cheney reportedly said, "I had other priorities in the '60s than military service."[15] Cheney testified during his confirmation hearings in 1989 that he received deferments to finish a college career that lasted six years rather than four, owing to sub par academic performance and the need to work to pay for his education. Initially, he was not called up because the Selective Service System was only taking older men. When he became eligible for the draft, he applied for four deferments in sequence. He applied for his fifth exemption on January 19, 1966, when his wife was about 10 weeks pregnant. He was granted 3-A status, the "hardship" exemption, which excluded men with children or dependent parents. In January 1967, Cheney turned 26 and was no longer eligible for the draft.[16]

 

[apache]

http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd59.htm

 

[Lear70]

I love watching all the idiots who foisted 8 years of ineptitude courtesy of George W. on the United States and the world coming to the slow realization that this time around they're gonna have to pull the lever for McCain, Obama, or Hillary.

Karma is a b!tch.

And thanks for helping the situation...

I have heard this "I know someone who has flown [insert candidate name]" about everyone, so don't give it much credence- usually someone's agenda, or the story gets distorted over countless re-statements. That said, the most consistent one I've heard concerns Billary.

No agenda here. I honestly wish McCain wasn't the way he was. Incidentally, the dates I flew him are verifiable through the Senate campaign trail he was helping with in Mississippi that year, as are the campaign stops with Congressman Lazio on the Senate Campaign that same year against Hillary Clinton.

Also, don't downplay her ability to "swing the minority vote" at the last second. Lazio was leading in just about every way until the last week when she went downtown in New York... and got out more minority voters than have *EVER* shown up for *ANY* vote in New York City. It put her over the top for a last-minute win.

She may be polarizing, big-business oriented, and a "hildabeast" (for many reasons, including the way she treats her staff), but she's smart as a WHIP when it comes to winning an election.

 

[pilotyip]

Integrity

McCain Demonstrated service before self under some of the most demanding conditions any human ever endured. This may be old history, but it bears repeating. While he was a near death condition in Hanoi in 1967 the NVA discovered he was the son of CINCPAC. They offered him a deal, a go home right now ticket. The NVA would have used that for political exploitation about how if you were politically connected in the US you do not have to suffer like everyone else. McCain said no, I would not go home unless I am released in order of internment, as I promised in the Code of Conduct. That is called INTEGRITY, we don't see a lot of that in politics. McCain demonstrated he would do what is right under trying circumstances. For that reason he has my donations and my vote.

 

[skyaddict]

Lear70, sorry if I sounded like I was questioning your personal experience... I was speaking of the second hand stories I regularly hear re. various candidates. I know McCain has a temper- e.g. he has been red in the face shouting down AOPA's Phil Boyer at hearings. Still, no matter what ammo. Hillary comes up with, McCain is by far and away the most electable against her. He's my fav in part because he has the integrity to stick up for positions even when they are unpopular (Romney had been pandering by contrast), and also because he is a centrist, hated by the loons- at least the right wing equivalents of moveon.org. (Though on fiscal conservatism he is actually more conservative than most other Republicans.)

As for Obama, he just got endorsed by loons (moveon) himself, and looks guaranteed to be ultra-liberal on economics, which could fly either way politically if the economy tanks. I suspect he'd beat McCain due the age issue and the war issue, although if there is any major international crisis between now and election time it would favor McCain. But for all McCain's flaws, I think fiscal conservatism would be like day to night under him compared with either the Republican spending orgy past (Bush), or the opponents (Billary or Obama). Agreed though that there are no limits to the craftiness that Hillary and Bubba will come up with... it will be interesting to see when, if ever, Bubba will be directed to shut up. Probably never. Of one thing I am sure- ABC- anyone but Clinton, in the final analysis.