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Perfect response to the media + Senators

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Different prespective..

Just passing on an email I received from a friend last night... Rather fitting for this thread..

"So you want to be an airline pilot?" the interviewer inquired.

"Yes, sir, more than anything else I have ever wanted," I replied, realizing I sounded like an anxious adolescent.

"Well, great, welcome aboard," the airline executive said.

"You mean I'm hired?!" I cheered.

"You bet, we're glad to have you. Actually, we've had trouble finding good pilots to hire," the exec explained. If I was surprised, it was overshadowed by my joy of reaching my
dream.

"Let's just go over a few points before you sign on the dotted line," the company man chortled. "We're going to send you to the world's most renowned medical center. They'll spend two days
probing you body orifices, draining and analyzing your blood, and administering psychological exams. They'll literally take you apart and put you back together. If they find any hint of current or
future problems, you're fired and can find your own ride home."

"Gee, I think my health is O. K.," I nervously choked out.

The manager went on, "Good, next we'll evaluate your flying skills in an aircraft you've never been in before.

"If we don't like the way you perform, you're fired,"

I was confident with my flying, but this guy was making me nervous. He continued, "Next, if you're still here, we'll run you through our training program. If during any time in
the next 10 years you decide to leave the company, you'll have to reimburse us $20,000, or we'll sue you. Also if you fail
to measure up during training, you're fired."

The man who had just given me my dream job listed still more hurdles. "Each time, before we allow you near one of our multimillion dollar aircraft we'll X-ray your flight bag and
luggage, because we don't trust you. Also we'll ask you to pass through a magnetometer each time. If you fail to do so,
you'll be arrested and jailed."

"When you've completed your flight, we'll have you provide a urine sample, because we don't trust you to not take drugs. Very soon, we plan to take a blood sample to look for more drugs.

"Also if you ever fly with another crew member who may have used drugs or alcohol, you must report to us immediately. If you fail to notice that anyone has used these substances, you'll be fired, have your license to fly revoked, and be fined $10,000."

"Every six months, we want you to go back to the medical center for another exam. If they ever find a hint of a problem, your license to fly will be revoked and we'll fire you.
Anytime you see a medical person, you must tell us about it so we can see if you need to be grounded and terminated. Also,
we need to examine your driving record, and you must tell us if you have even any minor infractions so we can remove you from the cockpit as soon as possible."

"At any time, without notice, a special branch of the government will send one of its inspectors to ride in your aircraft. The inspector will demand to see your papers and license,
If your papers are not in order, you'll be removed, fined, terminated, and possibly jailed." "If at any time you make an error in judgment or an honest human mistake, you
will be terminated, be fined tens of thousands of dollars, and be dragged through months of court proceedings. The
government will make sure you never fly again for any airline."

Smiling an evil smile now, the airline hirer went on. "Oh, and one last thing to cover. Occasionally, we in management fail to see a trend and screw up royally or the country's economy falls flat on its face. If as a result of one of those events the corporation begins to lose money, you as an employee will be expected to make up the losses from your paycheck."


"Now sign here," he pointed, grinning as he handed me a pen.

I faked a sudden nosebleed. Holding my head back and pinching my nostrils, I hurried from his office. When I got to the hall, I began to run. I ran all the way to my car. I figured if I hurried I could still get to the county vocational school before 5:00 and enroll in the industrial welding career program. See you,
Steve Mayer
DC-10 F/O
Austin, TX
 
Falcon Capt,

You do not seem very airline friendly, from past posts.Maybe I am reading into it. Since you are a moderator you are held to higher level. Regardless of what you think about Browntail I ask that you bite your tongue, or step down from that position. Mu understanding is you are supposed to be nuetral.

Cordially,

AAflyer
 
TXCAP4228

You should go read what you wrote. You sound like an arrogant a$$ now.

AAflyer
 
AAFlyer, I didn't start this thread by posting something that claims I have a higher status than any other job. I am calling Browntail out because he did, and then said some pretty insulting things about Flychicaga and about non airline pilots in general.

I have also made specific responses (sometimes sentence by sentence) rather than resort to name calling. I am pretty confident that I have staked out the high ground.

Sticks and stones...
 
AAFlyer,

I went back and reread what I wrote. Yes, it was harsh. But I'll stand by it and I'll certainly defend my position if you want to point out something specific.

I will say that no offense is or was intended.
 
It is not about status, it is about the day in the life of an airline pilot. It is an excellent letter. Unless you have sat in the seat that many of us sit in do not judge.

Browntail did not attack you! He said his comments to Flychicaga. I think Flychicaga is a big boy and can take care of himself, so you jump in and add fuel to the fire. Real professional.

Good day,
AAflyer


FlyChicaga,

If you are dealing with children why did respond again!
 
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AAflyer said:
It is not about status, it is about the day in the life of an airline pilot. It is an excellent letter. Unless you have sat in the seat that many of us sit in do not judge.
If you don't have my job (whatever it might be), then don't judge it either. I'd say I have an equal claim to that statement, right? The question remains, then, how you can make a comparison to my job when I can't make a comparison to yours.

AAflyer said:
Browntail did not attack you! He said his comments to Flychicaga. I think Flychicaga is a big boy and can take care of himself, so you jump in and add fuel to the fire. Real professional.

Good day,
AAflyer
I am not defending Fly chicaga, he is doing a great job. I thought I was permitted to throw my own comments into the fray. Why is there fuel for the fire? I have been pretty reasonable in what I have said.

Besides, you are defending Browntail.... if its not preofessional for me, then its not for you either. Right?
 
Fly Chicaga, if it is your dream to become an airline manager then I would not want to detract from that dream. The point I am making is that you WILL be corrupted by the management team that is already in place. If you don't fall in line and get with their program, you won't be their employee for very long.

"However, how does flying the line at a regional airline provide someone with the knowledge and understanding of airline business practices to make a substatiated argument about how much pilots should be paid, or how much pilots are worth?"

That part is easy to answer. If you are going to get heart surgery, are you going to request the chief of cardiology or the med student that just graduated. If your a certain athlete that hacked up his wife, who are you going to get to defend you? The public defender or J.C. The flying public has gotten spoiled with the safety record of airline flying. They just think it is routine that we took them 2000 miles in a large aluminum tube at 600 mph, 35000 feet above the earth. Oh we also dodged numerous thunderstorms, had to hold because it got busy and then did an approach down to minimums. What we do is nothing short of a miracle if you really think about it. Pretty much the same as a doctor repairing your heart! If your family was on that plane, how much would we be worth to you?

Priceless I would say!!!!!

My mom used to say when I was at my regional job, "If those people knew what you got paid, they would not get on that plane with you"


"If the company says "we just can't give you more money, even if we want to", well maybe that is true. If you have noticed, the airlines are in the red. Cuts are being made right and left to help return companies to profitability."

I could see using that line for some places, but my airline is the most profitable airline in the entire world.

AAflyer thanks for the input, I know you know what the airline lifestyle is like. Our way of life is continually assaulted by ceo's that take huge bonuses for running airlines into the ground and politicians that take all kinds of bribes from those same companies.

FlyChicaga,TXCAP4228 and Falcon Capt, the above paragraphs explain exactly why we take our jobs so seriously and feel that we are worthy of our salaries and more in the future.
 
AAflyer said:
Falcon Capt,

You do not seem very airline friendly, from past posts.Maybe I am reading into it. Since you are a moderator you are held to higher level. Regardless of what you think about Browntail I ask that you bite your tongue, or step down from that position. Mu understanding is you are supposed to be nuetral.

Cordially,

AAflyer

I was not aware because I VOLUNTEER to help out with the maintenance on this board that I can not express my own opinion...

What exactly is "Airline Friendly"? Does that mean I have to agree with everything said by someone with "EMB-120, CL-65, B-727 or B767" in their profile???

If anyone out there is underpaid and at a high risk it is the Men and Women of the United States Armed Forces... Lets see anyone dispute that.... They are at a MUCH great risk day to day than any Domestic or International US Flag ship flight crew... And they are paid a fraction of what an airline crew gets paid...

I personally enjoyed how "Browntail" went right for the personal insults to anyone who disputed him in the least bit.... Calling people "wannabes" and the such.... AAFlyer, I have read many of your posts, most are well thought out and the such.. I can't believe that you would agree that jumping in with personal insults is an amicable act on this or any other public forum...

Browntail appearantly believes veeryone want to be like him.... Hey, everyone is entitled to their own personal twisted perception of reality.... Right on, Top Gun!
 
Falcon capt,

You are right, I would like to apologize for that attack, and thank you for taking your free time to moderate. Sometimes it is easy to get sucked in.

Some of the frustration lies in the misconception of the major airline pilot. A handful are arrogant and give all of us a black eye. In all honesty your job in the corporate arena with no back-up like the airlines have is probably very demanding, more so than mine.

I worked hard to get here and work hard now, especially flying overseas. I would like to be compensated for being a good pilot, I would like to compensated and rewarded when the company does well, I would like to be more productive, that would benefit both parties. There are many ideas and thoughts we have on helping our companies, but all the media and Joe Q public sees is greedy overpaid pilots wanting more.

I will not apologize for what I make, but I am willing to work out a solution that rewards me and helps the company.

Additionally I am not a top gun or think I am better for wearing a uniform with AA wings. A professional pilot is a professional pilot wether it is in a 777 or Baron. However respect is earned, wether you are a Baron captain or 777 captain.

Thanks for listening,

AAflyer
 
From Browntail:
"The point I am making is that you WILL be corrupted by the management team that is already in place. If you don't fall in line and get with their program, you won't be their employee for very long. "
That's not always true....sometimes they'll still keep you, they'll just send your butt packing to Orlando. Take it from a uncorrupted "rebel" who's been there, done that.
 
browntail said:
..Ask Bob Crandall the cost of a B-757 impacting a Colombian mountain...The Cost

Wasn't this crash due to pilot error and the total lack of professionalism of the flight crew?

Isn't it odd to include this in the original post that tries to glorify airline pilots.
 
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What you are worth....

You are worth whatever your union contract says you are worth...no more, no less. Nothing else really matters. If you don't work in a union enviornment then I guess you are worth whatever you agree to work for. How "good" you do your job has nothing to do with it. We are held to the standard of our companies FAA approved operation manuals and the FAA itself. Meet that standard and you "deserve" to be there and command the salary.

Pilots are always trying to improve their situation through whatever means available...I see nothing wrong with that. Managements job is to increase company profits and serve the stockholders....this is usually at the expense of the employees.

Southwest is a rare example in the airline business where the employees and management work together for the benefit of both the stockholder and the employee....in fact, stock is part of the compensation. Not sure why this model hasn't been duplicated but the fact that management is so distrusted at most airlines probably has a lot to do with it.
 

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