Dieterly:
Since I am just a "baby jet" pilot, perhaps you would like to challenge the opinions of your fellow "big jet" pilots at United, American, Delta, etc, that were also my mentors, who told me to take this route of a regional pilot to attain my dream of a major job?? How sad is it that you started off flying 152's and actually made it to a 747 without understanding the position of a reagional guy/gal.
First off, is it my decision to take mainline flying??? Um, no, that would be the top guys in management. Do I have any power over their decisions? Um, no, cause if I did, I would support mainline flying since my dad works for a company in BK right now (not a pilot), and I much rather see him ok then myself since he has dedicated 25+ years and me only 2 1/2. He paid his dues, I have not, I accept that and if it were up to me, no one would be going through all of this right now, whether he comes from a regional or mainline.
If I wanted to settle for a sub-std contract, I would have stayed at my previous carrier and had no chance to upgrade and no chance to make any money. However, as one of those "Comair" pilots, I feel blessed to join the ranks of a group that wants to bring the bar up. Im sure there are people over at Mesa that are great guys, Im sure with Freedom they felt backed in a corner, but while the other regionals are trying to bring the bar up, they bring the movement back down in a way, which is what makes the guys who fight upset. In no way at Comair are we taking mainline routes and having a good time doing so, that would just be sick. We have grown in the past without doing so, so why take joy in seeing our friends at the majors loose their jobs? There may be some out there like that, but they are the minority. I fully support a plan that could benefit both sides for one reason in particular---A lot of guys are going to spend the rest of their careers at the regionals now, cause by the time things turn around, it won't make sense to leave. So, lets give the regional guy a chance to make a sensible living, that is why Mesa is a hot topic.
I realize I am young in this industry, but one thing is for sure, I am not a stupid regional pilot. You may have 10,000 hours but I think you are magically forgetting where you came from. I bet you were a kid with a dream as well, and how did you achieve that dream?? Was your company going to hire you with just flight instructor time? After interning for two majors, I specifically remember the head of hiring for both telling us to get out there and get 121 PIC time, just like many others had to do to become competitive. Two years ago there was non of this hype because there was movement out and people only had to suffer for a small number of years, but that has changed. It is time to stop fighting against one another already and work together so at least some type of bar is kept in which everyone feels somewhat valued as a professional.
There are many intelligent regional guys out there, just cause they fly little jets, that does not make them any lesser of a person. I guess I should just furlough myself and not fly anymore and have no chance to achieve my dream cause management is switchng the flying over to the regionals. Time to grow up.
