Perfect response to the media + Senators

[browntail]

A Lot has been said and written in the press concerning pilots' salaries and compensation. We have been told about how much it will cost our company, our job has been compared to others, and various subtle and not so subtle threats and intimidation tactics have been hurled at our group. In light of the current situation, please allow me, a pilot to give you a small glimpse into my world...

DON'T COMPARE MY JOB TO OTHER JOBS!

..How many boardrooms explode over Long Island Sound?

..How many meetings conclude with hundreds of dead bodies?

..How many trucks cost $82 million dollars?

..How many doctors spend half the month away from their families?

..Do the children of media representatives cry when Daddy puts on his uniform to go to work because they know he'll be gone for a week?

..How many salesmen lose their jobs because they have high blood pressure?

..How many lawyers spent Christmas alone in a hotel room?

..When your wife is watching TV and the program is interrupted by a news flash of an aircraft accident, does she momentarily freeze in fear for what she might hear?

There is not another profession in the world where the consequences for mistakes are so catastrophic and unforgiving.

THE PRICE

..I pay the price when somebody loads full oxygen containers in the cargo hold

..I pay the price when a terrorist has a bone to pick

..I pay the price when loaders forget to set the locks

..I pay the price when engineers design a fuel pump not quite correctly


..I pay the price when Mother Nature decides to shift the winds...



YOU SPEAK OF THE COST

..Ask the CEO of Valu-Jet the cost of a DC-9 buried in the Everglades...The Cost.

..Ask Fred Smith the cost to scrape a DC-10 and MD-11 from the runways at Steward and Newark...The Cost

..Ask Korean Airlines the cost of a 747 that didn't quite make the
runway at Guam... The Cost

..Ask Fine Air the cost to clean up a DC-8 off a Miami Street...The
Cost

..Ask Bob Crandall the cost of a B-757 impacting a Colombian mountain...The Cost

..And if not for their Cool, Calm, Professionalism, what could have
been the cost of a UPS B-727 that suddenly went dark and silent four miles above Chicago?

How much were they worth to you that night? Industry standard or 25% below? ...... The Cost

WHEN YOU TRY TO INTIMIDATE ME, REMEMBER!

I am not your enemy, I am your asset, an asset who has experienced and accomplished things few others dare to try. Realize this and there are few obstacles we can't overcome.

 

[rice]

When was the last time you heard of any of those occupations getting laid off in mass quantities or working for 25% less than they used too.
I know we're not gods and I have the utmost respect for cops and firefighters but I guarantee they would fight tooth and nail if they were in this situation.

 

[BEXFlyer]

FlyChicaga,

Keep up the good work. You have a very bright future ahead of you in middle management. Perhaps you will change your views when you get on with a part 121 carrier, although it doesn't seem like that is your goal right now...which may be best for all parties involved.

 

[Midnight Mike]

Gentlemen, it is not always the case that we are paid what we believe we are worth or what we deserve, but what the market will afford. If the consumer is unwilling or unable to pay high prices for tickets, then the salaries will start to come down.

There is no comparison between a doctor & a pilot, sorry. A doctor is responsible for a single persons life at a time, most people would pay any amount to stay alive.

Most surgeries are required and necessary, where a majority of travel is not.

In response to the comment that pilots spend time away from home, so do plenty of other professions. When I was in the Navy I spent 4 years away from New York, shipped to California for training, shipped to Guam/based out of Guam, shipped to Korea, Phillipines, Hong Kong, Japan. Would spend 3 months with my wife, & then I would not see her for 3 months, & no she did not cry.

Are pilots worthy of a high salary? YES
Is a pilot a highly technical job? YES
But there are always limits, I am sure that the NASA folks that are riding the space shuttle are probably saying that they are worth a million dollars. Afterall, they are flying a one of a kind aircraft worth close to a billion dollars.

Just my two cents

MIKE

 

[TXCAP4228]

When was the last time you heard of any of those occupations getting laid off in mass quantities or working for 25% less than they used too.
I know we're not gods and I have the utmost respect for cops and firefighters but I guarantee they would fight tooth and nail if they were in this situation.

Just ask any of the Fortune 500 companies that laid off thousands of people last year. Hell, my office laid off people.

I respect pilots and the profession, but however eloquent borwntail sounds he has a narrow view that FlyChicaga answered directly and almost line by line.

Professional pilots would suffer far less if they viewed their profession like other professionals view their own.

 

[banned username 2]

When was the last time you heard of any of those occupations getting laid off in mass quantities or working for 25% less than they used too.

No offense, but my company laid off 57,000 employees over the past 18 months, laid off, not furloughed... no recall rights... that was nearly 38% of our workforce...

It happens in all aspects of the business world... Pilots aren't the only ones affected...

 

[browntail]

"And yes, I do someday hope to be in some type of management position. But that doesn't mean I am going to rape my employees, and pay them chicken feed. You pay your employees for what they are worth. The number of passengers in back does not determine worth. Worth is determined by how well you do your job. Good employees, good pay. Bitching, moaning, complaining employees, get paid the minimum."

Fly Chicaga you gotta be hitting the crack pipe already!!!! If you make into a management position (which god many of us hope you don't) your outlook will immediately change. You will be looking to screw over every employee as soon as you get the chance.

I find it interesting that most of the replies came from people that are not even in the airline business. If you have not worked for a regional for several years or a major (as a pilot), then you have nothing to compare this to. This situation does not apply to 135 or corporate or part 91's who have not even made into the show!!!

 

[TXCAP4228]

Fly Chicaga you gotta be hitting the crack pipe already!!!! If you make into a management position (which god many of us hope you don't) your outlook will immediately change. You will be looking to screw over every employee as soon as you get the chance.

I find it interesting that most of the replies came from people that are not even in the airline business. If you have not worked for a regional for several years or a major (as a pilot), then you have nothing to compare this to. This situation does not apply to 135 or corporate or part 91's who have not even made into the show!!!

You know, I am trying to resist the temptation to call you what I think you are. Chicaga answers you line by line and you respond by name-calling and attacking him. If your eloquent words (I am using a little sarcasm here) have so much merit, why not defend what you said directly?

If you have not worked for a regional for several years or a major (as a pilot), then you have nothing to compare this to.

I could say the same thing to you. If you have not had a mainstream job outside the flying industry then YOU have nothing to compare it to.

Here's a hint. Don't make an @ss of youself like this in front of your customers, they won't be inspired to trust you with their lives even if you think you are an aviation god.

Your arrogance disgusts me.

 

[banned username 2]

If your eloquent words (I am using a little sarcasm here) have so much merit, why not defend what you said directly?

Those "eloquent words" aren't his (original post)... that "letter" has been around for a long time, he merely copied it...

 

[TXCAP4228]

Hmmm... go figure.

Thanks, Falcon Capt., for that information. It sheds a little light.