Jungle Jet, as a past airline employee, and current NetJets pilot, I have to disagree with you.
In my opinion, what makes us the best aviation company out there, is that management gives us the tools to get the job done.
If the planes dirty, pay someone to clean it. If it's missing stock, buy some. If we need services asap, whip out some more cash till it gets done. It's all reimbursed, and we know the company will pay us back without blinking an eye.....we do what it takes because we know management will back us up to do what it takes to get the job done.
Compare that to when I worked at the airlines. Nobody gives a crap, and that attitude starts from the top and goes down hill.
In the year or so I've worked here, I've said the words "I'm sorry" less than I usually did in 1 day while at the airlines. This is not an exaggeration.
At the airline I worked for, and I'm guessing it's that way at most of them, my job as a captain was to ensure I get people from A to B safely, comfortably, and on time. In that order, per the ops specs. They had people to clean lavs, toss bags, park us, cater us, etc. If they didn't show up, I would call ops till they sent someone. That was in my ops specs too. If I helped out and got hurt while tossing bags, I would have been SOL. Never mind a thank you, I probably would have gotten in trouble for doing it. Never mind the union issues involved in doing someone else's job.
Look at it this way, lets say it takes a crew of 5 to turn a plane. Toss bags, clean, cater, etc. Now 1 guy calls in sick, and because of your standard mismanagement, they didn't have anyone to cover for the sick guy. You bust your butt and help out this day. The flight leave on time. Guess what happens next? The 5 man crew goes down to 4 on a regular basis since it's obvious that it only takes 4 guy to turn a plane on time. "Hey look boss, I just saved some money, now I can justify another management bone-us"
Like most frac guys, I feel that airlining is the worst part of this job. The dirty planes, crappy service, delays, etc etc. There is plenty of blame to go around for the sorry state of the airlines, but I have a hard time recalling any crappy flight that was caused by the cabin/cockpit crew.
I paid for a ticked and expect to be treated like any other pax, but more often then not, I get tossed a free bottle of water, snack or get moved to first class without even asking. I'm very appreciative of that, but certainly don't expect it.
I knew this job entailed cleaning and tossing bags and going the extra mile. I enjoy doing it because I know I directly impact the passengers experience. While at the airlines I would go the extra mile and it was useless 98% of the time. I'd bust my butt, skip meals, take short cuts etc just to make up some time so they could make their connection, only to show up and have to wait 10 minutes for rampers, and another 5 for a gate agent. After a few years of banging my head against the wall, I gave up and just did my job. Aint My Responsibility became a way of life. That's not the way I like to operate, so I finally had enough and was fortunate enough to be able to get out.
