Right on! Interestingly, you can get him to talk Crewpass?! Full page ad in USAToday?? Oh, he's in touch all right. I barely see my family and he's worried about taking his shoes off??
Prater is not equiped to take care of all of us in this profession. What he really means to say is: he won't let the company, and the bottom half of the list, leverage PBS against him taking care of the top half.
The loan is no longer due I'm afraid. It was due, and then Pratard changed retirement age. There would be a durable pilot shortage pushing things along if it weren't for him. Even with fuel and these recent shutdowns, pilots would be in demand. Here's what's going to happen IMHO: The need for pilots will return in about 24-36 months, and it will be an even greater than before. F-ing Prater & company are going to lament this and seek to cash in on it again. It will be with foriegn control, or cabotage, or something like that...He'll want to pull the ladder up again. We have got to put a damper on this recent windfall his crowd took. I say we shore up scope (capture the 170/190), seek an incremental raise for junior pilots, and leave the top half of the list high and dry (let's lower their pay!?). Sign a two year deal and get back to this in earnest when demand comes back.