Buschpilot
Large Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2002
- Posts
- 114
I was thinking about this the other day (again). Illini is right, itdoes come up in conversation more than I would like. I always feel likeI'm griping (I guess I kinda am), but more importantly, I think peopleneed to understand what the airline life is REALLY like. Some of thelooks of surprise I get amaze me. People really don't know. Avbug sayspublic perception means nothing, and I disagree. Look at the media.Never once have they mentioned anything other than the top pay tiers atour 'legacy' airlines. I sent a nice email to a reporter at a largenewspaper last year and corrected his statement(s) that 'abc airlinepilots make$180k, and only work 80 hours a month'. Whether he trulybelieved that, or was writing for shock value, I don't know, but Icalled him on it. His reply was actually very kind and professional,but never did I see another article from him (or anyone else) statingwhat is really involved. The point is that people read/see this, andfeel no pity for what is happening to the industry. Now, flip the coin.If they did know all the facts about pay, benefits,schedules (whe elsecan work 16 hours a day for 4 hours pay????) and believed it, theirperception MAY change. People MAY be willing to pay a few bucks morefor a ticket. Or people may say 'no way am I flying thatairline...those guys make less than retail employees!' (i think Icertainly would if wasn't in this business and knew how professionaland skilled pilots are).
Of course, the union contracts, rigs, etc make it no better. I have noidea what I make until w-2's come out. People say how much do you make?I say $30/hour. They say, that's not bad. I say, wait, it gets better.Then I end up trying to explain duty rigs, min guarantees, TAFB, etcand you can literally watch their eyes glaze over as my $30/hr shrinksto about $10 a real hour.
Point I'm blabbing to make is that it is everyones fault, from thecompanies to the unions, to the media, to public perception, to themarketplace (oh, and lets not forget the RLA from 1930-something thatgoverns us). I don't know what the solution is, but we need to dosomething. I'm getting tired of worrying about what is going to happenif my car breaks, and then turning around and hearing how 'cool' it isto be a pilot and to have all that time off and make decent coin. Maybesomeday all that good/cool stuff will be true. But that day isn'ttoday, and the way life is headed it may never come for a great manypilots. You can argue that it will get better in time, and I have nodoubt it will, but that time went from 1-2 years to well over 7 in mycase. It may no longer be worth it, because not only do I WANT toretire someday, I WILL retire someday. 401(k)/pension/IRA or not, I'mout of a job in 30 years.
If you see a flawed news article, email a constuctive letter to thewriter. Any good journalist will listen and maybe learn. 9time out of ten they interview management types and get thismisinformation. Or worse, they scour the net for info. Setthem straight in a professional manner. Maybe it'll come backaround. Ignore the shock jock writers we've been hearing about.
Get involved in the union. Don't do it to throw rocks at management, but do it to better the system.
Write your congress person or senator. Some of these silly airline rules need to change.
Write for publications. There is an editorial section of almostevery newspaper out there. The best one I ever saw was a FlightAttendant that wrote a wonderful article (not a letter!) abouthow the industry is changing her life for the worse. It gotprinted in a major metropolitan paper and I'm sure that made animpression for folks.
Anyway, I better not rant anymore. I'm gonna start soundingbitter and unhappy, which mostly isn't true (only sometimes)
Of course, the union contracts, rigs, etc make it no better. I have noidea what I make until w-2's come out. People say how much do you make?I say $30/hour. They say, that's not bad. I say, wait, it gets better.Then I end up trying to explain duty rigs, min guarantees, TAFB, etcand you can literally watch their eyes glaze over as my $30/hr shrinksto about $10 a real hour.
Point I'm blabbing to make is that it is everyones fault, from thecompanies to the unions, to the media, to public perception, to themarketplace (oh, and lets not forget the RLA from 1930-something thatgoverns us). I don't know what the solution is, but we need to dosomething. I'm getting tired of worrying about what is going to happenif my car breaks, and then turning around and hearing how 'cool' it isto be a pilot and to have all that time off and make decent coin. Maybesomeday all that good/cool stuff will be true. But that day isn'ttoday, and the way life is headed it may never come for a great manypilots. You can argue that it will get better in time, and I have nodoubt it will, but that time went from 1-2 years to well over 7 in mycase. It may no longer be worth it, because not only do I WANT toretire someday, I WILL retire someday. 401(k)/pension/IRA or not, I'mout of a job in 30 years.
If you see a flawed news article, email a constuctive letter to thewriter. Any good journalist will listen and maybe learn. 9time out of ten they interview management types and get thismisinformation. Or worse, they scour the net for info. Setthem straight in a professional manner. Maybe it'll come backaround. Ignore the shock jock writers we've been hearing about.
Get involved in the union. Don't do it to throw rocks at management, but do it to better the system.
Write your congress person or senator. Some of these silly airline rules need to change.
Write for publications. There is an editorial section of almostevery newspaper out there. The best one I ever saw was a FlightAttendant that wrote a wonderful article (not a letter!) abouthow the industry is changing her life for the worse. It gotprinted in a major metropolitan paper and I'm sure that made animpression for folks.
Anyway, I better not rant anymore. I'm gonna start soundingbitter and unhappy, which mostly isn't true (only sometimes)