Pilots wearing backpacks??? lets get campy?

[DC8 Flyer]

First, SWA currently has one of the highest paid pilot groups out there. How can they do that when they charge such low fares? Part of the reason is brand loyalty. How much of that is because of how the pilot group is seen by the public? Above my brain power, but it is a factor.

As to my generation? I am probably about 10 years older than you, not much in the grand scheme of things. However the current crop coming through now seem to feel that they have nothing to learn from the guys that came before them. I have seen it from time to time in my age bracket, the last one was a poor guy that didn't know when to act the part and keep his mouth shut in front of checkairmen and Senior Captains. He should be a few numbers senior to me, instead he was "removed" from the seniority list by one of those "Know it all big airplane drivers" that very much cares how the pilot group is perceived by their peers and customers.

As to the Company and airplane.......wrong company and four motors instead of three.

Know it all?? Me? You are kidding right? Been around the block a few times, been furloughed, downgraded, seen a lot of guys do stupid things and sabotoge their own careers....yes. Know it all, not by a long shot. Those "Know it all senior Captains" have a lot of information to pass on to a young inexperienced fellow such as myself. I learn something new everytime I go to work.

How do you like the 8? I love this thing, Tim Allen comes to mind, aaaar aaaar aaaar! MORE POWER!

of course Im assuming UPS and the DC8

 

[FedEx1]

I wear a backpack at Fedex. And you would, too, if you had to haul three bags up the stairs of an MD-11. But I suppose we don't count...It seems to be acceptable to carry a briefcase with a shoulder strap over your shoulder in the business world. And women wear their tennies when walking to and from work. I don't have a problem with the campy look personally.

And pilots don't have big bellies.... they have secondary stall protection.

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

How do you like the 8? I love this thing, Tim Allen comes to mind, aaaar aaaar aaaar! MORE POWER!

of course Im assuming UPS and the DC8

Nope not the 8.......mines bigger(hmm that doesn't sound too good huh? ), but your paycheck whips the crap out of mine hands down assuming you are off probation!!!!! (The senior boys are working on that problem now.) Got any spare change??

You got the more power thing right though!!!!!!! Booyowww!!!!! Now if I can just figure out what the heck I am doing most of the time I will be set! One motor on this puppy weighs more than my last corporate jet did at gross, and it hauls gobs more weight in fuel than the old 73 weighed at gross!!

Like a silly kid in a candy store on this puppy...........Proof that all furloughs are not bad. Went from a 73 to a 172 and clawed my way back up. Gives you a new look on life, family is everything. The big planes are nice but in the end it's the folks at home that make it worth while!

Oh yeah.....and Backpacks Suck!!! Gotta stay on topic you know!!

 

[CapnVegetto]

First, SWA currently has one of the highest paid pilot groups out there. How can they do that when they charge such low fares? Part of the reason is brand loyalty. How much of that is because of how the pilot group is seen by the public? Above my brain power, but it is a factor.

As to my generation? I am probably about 10 years older than you, not much in the grand scheme of things. However the current crop coming through now seem to feel that they have nothing to learn from the guys that came before them. I have seen it from time to time in my age bracket, the last one was a poor guy that didn't know when to act the part and keep his mouth shut in front of checkairmen and Senior Captains. He should be a few numbers senior to me, instead he was "removed" from the seniority list by one of those "Know it all big airplane drivers" that very much cares how the pilot group is perceived by their peers and customers.

As to the Company and airplane.......wrong company and four motors instead of three.

Know it all?? Me? You are kidding right? Been around the block a few times, been furloughed, downgraded, seen a lot of guys do stupid things and sabotoge their own careers....yes. Know it all, not by a long shot. Those "Know it all senior Captains" have a lot of information to pass on to a young inexperienced fellow such as myself. I learn something new everytime I go to work.

Once again I have to disagree. American consumers know very little of brand loyalty. That is exactly where travelocity, expedia, priceline, and all of these websites came from. My neighbor has a boyfriend in Chicago. She's flown 3 different airlines the last 3 times she's been up there. What drives it? The cheapest ticket. She doesn't care if it's O'hare or Midway, nonstop or with a connection. The cheapest ticket wins.

SWA is making money because of one thing: extremely shrewd management. They gambled on fuel hedges and won. While everyone else is paying $60 a barrel, they're paying $30. Instead of going into massive debt for growth, they took what they had and optimized it. They grew slowly and kept a strong cash position, enabling them to afford the hedging, while everyone was going into massive debt and buying new airplanes, they were growing slowly and positioning themselves for the future. They fly a point to point route structure, enabling themselves to only go places where they know they will make money. But rest assured, if someone else came in and undercut them, customers would go flocking to whatever other airline would save them an extra $2 bucks.

I don't have a problem with learning from someone that knows more than me. I don't have a problem respecting someone who has EARNED it. Respect is not given, it's EARNED. If someone expects me to respect them just because they have 10,000 hours in a 747, they've got another thing coming. I have a lot more respect for character, work ethic, and the way you treat people than I do flight time. I don't care if you're a 50 hour student pilot, if you earn my respect, you have it. But don't expect it to be given to you.

Because someone flies 'big planes' doesn't make them worthy of anything. Many are great guys, and great pilots, but just as many aren't. Many think that because they've flown a DC-10 or something that their $hit doesn't stink. Far from it. Some of the worst pilots I've ever met are these 'big plane' drivers. Some of the best pilots I've ever met are 'little plane' drivers. Tell any military fighter pilot that they're inferior because they fly a 1-seat airplane and see what they have to say about it.

I don't think I know everything. I'm always willing to learn. But nobody can ever expect me to bow down and call them god automatically because of anything. After I get to know you, fly with you, and you earn my respect, then I'll listen.

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

I don't think I know everything. I'm always willing to learn. But nobody can ever expect me to bow down and call them god automatically because of anything. After I get to know you, fly with you, and you earn my respect, then I'll listen.

Career tip coming your way..........

Whatever you do, avoid all Chief Pilots and check airmen like the plauge........you will thank me for it later.

Might want to have the wife speak to the next cop that pulls you over too.....they dislike that attitude even more than the CP's do!!! (Learned that one on a motorcycle back in college.....boy that was a hefty fine!! He didn't see the humor in it.)

 

[CapnVegetto]

Career tip coming your way..........

Whatever you do, avoid all Chief Pilots and check airmen like the plauge........you will thank me for it later.

Might want to have the wife speak to the next cop that pulls you over too.....they dislike that attitude even more than the CP's do!!! (Learned that one on a motorcycle back in college.....boy that was a hefty fine!! He didn't see the humor in it.)

News for ya......never had any kind of problem with any CP or CK airman anywhere. I've drank more beer with 'em than anything. As long as they don't come to me with a 'my $hit don't stink holier-than-thou' attitude, we'll never have a problem. I'll listen to ANYBODY, even if I don't agree with you, I will listen to you.

Most I've met have been easy to work with, easy to deal with, and good guys. No attitude problems anywhere. I'm not going to lemming behind someone and I don't kiss a$$. If you teach me something I don't know, I'll learn from you gratefully. If you're wrong, or acting like an a$$ don't expect me to act like you're not. If someone is going to be an a$$hole to me, then fine, I don't want to work for you. I can always find another job. I'm not going to go swimming up some CP's a$$ to keep a job.

I will work my butt off for you and be the best employee you ever had, as long as you treat me right. But the minute you think you can abuse me, bye bye.

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

News for ya......never had any kind of problem with any CP or CK airman anywhere. I've drank more beer with 'em than anything. As long as they don't come to me with a 'my $hit don't stink holier-than-thou' attitude, we'll never have a problem. I'll listen to ANYBODY, even if I don't agree with you, I will listen to you.

Most I've met have been easy to work with, easy to deal with, and good guys. No attitude problems anywhere. I'm not going to lemming behind someone and I don't kiss a$$. If you teach me something I don't know, I'll learn from you gratefully. If you're wrong, or acting like an a$$ don't expect me to act like you're not. If someone is going to be an a$$hole to me, then fine, I don't want to work for you. I can always find another job. I'm not going to go swimming up some CP's a$$ to keep a job.

I will work my butt off for you and be the best employee you ever had, as long as you treat me right. But the minute you think you can abuse me, bye bye.

Mostly you have the right attitude, unfortunate that you may not be able to play the game long enough to get through the probation year without pissing off the wrong people at many of the better paid carriers out there. I am guessing that is your goal otherwise why bother with this thread.

I am with you on the treating a person right and not taking the abuse, my last employer found out the hard way just how marketable a decent pilot is, I think he is still trying to find my replacement, been through a couple of guys that scared the crap out of him in the last few months. Bad thing is it used to pay well and be a good job until he started to listen to the wrong guys about how to become a first class aviation bottomfeeder. So you have no quarrel with me in that department.

I still think that backpacks make a pilot look like a young schmuck still trying to figure out how an airplane works though!!!

 

[Gulfstream 200]

News for ya......never had any kind of problem with any CP or CK airman anywhere. I've drank more beer with 'em than anything. As long as they don't come to me with a 'my $hit don't stink holier-than-thou' attitude, we'll never have a problem. I'll listen to ANYBODY, even if I don't agree with you, I will listen to you.

Most I've met have been easy to work with, easy to deal with, and good guys. No attitude problems anywhere. I'm not going to lemming behind someone and I don't kiss a$$. If you teach me something I don't know, I'll learn from you gratefully. If you're wrong, or acting like an a$$ don't expect me to act like you're not. If someone is going to be an a$$hole to me, then fine, I don't want to work for you. I can always find another job. I'm not going to go swimming up some CP's a$$ to keep a job.

I will work my butt off for you and be the best employee you ever had, as long as you treat me right. But the minute you think you can abuse me, bye bye.

Brandy-new bad a$$ Citation captain (says so 2X in his profile)

nobody gonna fark with him....always a better job out there.

ready to walk.


where ya going Captain? to the next 135 on-call rat$hit job?

.

We can all relate to the billy-bada$$ tuffguy outlook, but it comes across as extremely...well....rookie.

(backpack or no backpack)

 

[CapnVegetto]

Brandy-new bad a$$ Citation captain (says so 2X in his profile)

nobody gonna fark with him....always a better job out there.

ready to walk.


where ya going Captain? to the next 135 on-call rat$hit job?

.

We can all relate to the billy-bada$$ tuffguy outlook, but it comes across as extremely...well....rookie.

(backpack or no backpack)

Least I have enough self-respect not to stick my head so far up somebody's a$$ that my feet aren't even touching the ground.

Look, I've been out on the job market for about 10 years now. It's not forever, I know, but I've never burned a bridge, never left on bad terms. Not a single one of my employers has a bad thing to say about me.

I don't think I'm a billy-bada$$ tuffguy. I just don't take crap from people. If I'm wrong, I'll bet the first guy to take my medicine and admit it. And rest assured, it's happened PLENTY of times. But I'm not going to give BJ's to get ahead in life. I'll do it my own merit, thank you. I like to think Mom and Dad brought their little boy up right. Would I get farther if I was hanging out of somebody's backside? Probably. But I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

I'd rather have my self-respect anyday.

 

[bizicmo]

What does wearing a backpack have with being in uniform or not?