Respect...Unity

[JD2003]

Just wanted to chime in...I love to sit back and watch all of these lively debates...

To me it seems that the animosity between Regionals and Majors, and between "low end commuters" and regionals is exactly what management wants. Squabbling and bickering about who is scr%$ing who is just a kind of welcome diversion while slowly hacking away with the corporate whipsaw.

My question then would be...where is ALPA in all of this?...you are all pilots who breath the same air and burn the same Jet-A...It is perplexing to me to see professionals of the same accord at such odds with one another.

Good luck ACA!

Is Terry Fenningham still with you guys?

 

[Publishers]

fact

The fact is that while everyone may preach unity, respect, and raising the bar, these threads reflect the real world division that exists within the pilot corp.

The second thing is that management is given way too much credit for wanting this and that, whipping the poor pilots, etc. To pilots, everything that comes out of management is strategy and positioning by management against the pilots. Mostly management just wants some people that show up on time, fly their assigned trip, fill out the paperwork, and go home.

My experience with management is that they spend most of their time trying to figure out how to get butts in the seats or cargo in the hold.

 

[JD2003]

Respect

Thanks for the reply publishers...I confess I subscribe to the notion that management has some sort of conspiratorial ends in mind too often. In some instances this may have been true in the past and possibly the present but I believe you are correct; their main concern is with load factor, yield, productivity, and
CASM, and not necesarily with fueling disputes among pilot groups.

Very well put...I stand corrected.

thank you.

 

[Swass]

I agree to some extent. Mgrs are also at odds with eachother. They will stab eachother in the back quicker than they will stab you if it means a promotion to them. You must remember that middle management plays alot of inner politics, if they are on the wrong team then it's their asses they gotta look out for. Most of them could give a rats buttocks about the line guys.

 

[Andy]

As for ALPA, they win no matter what. More pilots represented.

Management's goal is to get every employee work for free. It's not currently on most airline management's radar; there are, for the most part, bigger issues than pilot wage.
Unfortunately, pilot wages will be under attack for several years to come.

 

[enigma]

Re: fact

The second thing is that management is given way too much credit for wanting this and that, whipping the poor pilots, etc. To pilots, everything that comes out of management is strategy and positioning by management against the pilots.

Pilots usually don't see what comes from the managers you refer to, we see what comes from the VP of flight ops, the DO, the assistant DO, the CP's, the director of Scheduling, etc. And yes, those managers do specialize in extracting as much as possible from the pilots. Doing so is not all bad (if I was a manager I would also try and get the most from my workforce); however there is a line between getting the most out of, and abusing pilots. Changing pilot reserve periods after the fact, etc, is a specific predetermined strategy that goes way beyond the frame of managing for efficiency.

Mostly management just wants some people that show up on time, fly their assigned trip, fill out the paperwork, and go home.

I would accept that statement, if I hadn't seen: way too many trips changed after the initial assignment, showtimes changed (not because of normal ops items like w/x) trips extended, etc.

My experience with management is that they spend most of their time trying to figure out how to get butts in the seats or cargo in the hold.

If I remember correctly, your experiece is not ops related. I assume that most of the VP's are doing as you say, but the managers that I reference above, are only trying to figure out how to treat a pilot the same way that they are able to treat the airplane.

To be fair to management, I believe that the pilot managers at SWA, JetBlue and a few others realize that pilots can be used efficiently without being abused. My carrier, Spirit also has a few managers who are pilot friendly. I would name them, but then they would have to kill me.


regards,
enigma

 

[j41driver]

Is Terry Fenningham still with you guys?

Yep. He's the MEC Executive Administrtor.

 

[Publishers]

Scrambling

Most of what I observed were middle management types scrambling to make sure that everything was covered. The things that pissed off pilots were more the result of inefficiency, poor planning, pilots and FA's that wanted time off, duty time screw ups, poor communication, and general lack of business acumen.

What they hardly ever were was the result of some planning to harrass the pilot group. Many pilots do not feel part of the company as they show up for their flight, fly, and go home. There is often no sense of belonging. There is a feeling that I fly for Acme Air and it is the kind of attitude more related to contractors.

 

[JD2003]

thanks for the info J41driver

I knew Captain Fenningham in ABE, back when you were still flying super 31's.

He told me to come talk to him when I got my ATP...I am getting closer every day.

I plan on applying to Independence Air. Then I can tell Uni"TED" to kiss it!

thanks again