Sincere question: Why go back to USAirways?

[PositiveRate]

Groucho, your jabbing inuendo is pathetic.

You also use my words absent the context of the following sentences to aid your spin - pathetic. Maybe you wouldn't be so "struck" if you had read my whole post.

You guys can spin this however you like, but you all had a fair shake to be reasonable and declined. The true colors out East should be quite clear to all right about now...


FurloughedAgain - unless you are willing to move to PHL, NY or BOS and willing to endure at least 3-5 yrs of crap as this all plays out, I would stay away.

It sounds like you have a decent gig where you get a lot of nights at home and don't have to commute. The grass is not greener here - The grass is being pissed on repeatedly and is not in anyway green. That IS the reality of what you will come back to. Come back because that's what you want. Coming back hoping that it will be good in the future is setting you and your family up for disappointment.

It may be a good investment if it's what you truly want and a dream that can't be shaken. It's a horrible risk, though, if you're trying recapture some romanticized dream of airline flying at the possible risk of your sanity and your family's quality of life.

 

[On Your Six]

As far as I am concerned, the West needs less work than the East. The East has fallen into disrepair and their airplanes need to upgraded or replaced in many instances (although the Airbuses are holding up). Those E190s will be replacing older airplanes on the East Coast. The West appears to be in pretty good shape in terms of fleet composition (Mesa CR9s complement the West fleet) so it will likely get less attention in the short term.

I wouldn't take that personally if I were a West pilot.

 

[reepicheep]

I agree with Positiverate; a pretty decent little airline where (!) people did their jobs, jetway drivers showed up, bags were unloaded, and there was a modicum of emphasis on running an ontime operation, has gone down the s_____r. I've worked for both companies and now feel like it's 2002 again and nothing's really changed. America West is long gone, never to return.

 

[Swaayze]

Wow, thanks for the memories. I'll never forget Day 1, gettin picked up at the LaQuinta in the old school bus and then truckin' up to the old school - I about dropped a load wondering what I'd done after having enjoyed the AA Flight Academy for the previous 5 years at Eagle! Then came lunch with the (literally, for you non U types) 3 lunch ladies still there from the grade school days. Also had to fight the urge to have a peeing contest at the tiny toilets. Strangely enough these are now fond memories of my personal version of the good 'ol days.

I too suspect that my hex will vacate LCC if I don't return and all will be well there, but I'm not willing to go back just to bet on the come. If I go back it will be with the expectation of working under LOA93 and a 10 year upgrade, with the logbook updated in case of a merger or another attack.

I too think LCC is not very attractive right now, and quite honestly I'm with LearLove in thinking that it's the same industrywide anymore. I'll probably just ride this job out as long as I can stand it and pay the bills. I fear Van Hagar said it well: "Dream another dream. This dream is over."

 

[pilotyip]

because it has better pay and better QOL then the furlougees present job. Why a pilot left a DC-10 Int'l Cargo Captain's job to go back for the second time since 1989.

 

[HalinTexas]

ATA has had a quite a few come back off of furlough. Of course not from SWA, CAL, UPS, FDX. However, as of 7/1 our list has shrunk by 200, only a few recalls and the bottom group still has a year or two to go. That's 3+ if you're counting.

GAL and WLDA was approved yesterday, so who the he!! knows?

 

[Dogwood]

"Kid, run don't walk from this train wreck" ..........

Thanks in advance for the real replies.

I remember standing at the curb waiting for the hotel van to pick us up after a long day. I called the Code-a-Phone to kill a few minutes, only to hear of the furlough announcement. A quick calculation in my head, indicated this might get to me this time.

15 years at one airline was about to come to an end. 15 years of filling the walls of my office with Piedmont and US Airways "Stuff" was about to end. On a middle shelf, next to a worn out speedbird license plate, was an unopened 1985 can of "Piedmont Punch" . I could almost hear the can asking me what had happened.

The world had come to an end, as it seemed at the time.

Just before the furlough I was able to get a corporate flying job, thanks to the help of another furloughee. We moved, to be closer to the new job.

Quickly, my wife found a job in her field, making about twice the money. Not long after that JetBlue called, etc.

While, the furlough seemed tough at first, it's the best thing that could have happened. It forced me to move along in life. I had found myself in a more relaxed town with better schools, and at a better job.

For the moment, I still have recall rights, but would never go back. We have no retirement and no seniority to go back to.

We all have different stories, and different life situations. One must decide based on "your story".

If you go back, it may work out great for you, and I hope it does. All I can suggest is that you decide based on what you see there now, and not on any future promises or A/C orders.

If you get the letter and the big descision must be made to return or resign, do so with dignity and move on with life.

Good luck to everyone.

DW

 

[bearcat]

Flying airplanes is a cool job.....but it is only a JOB! Do what is best for you and your family. If you want to fly airplanes, then consider what is close to your home. If I commuted to US, there is no way I would go back. It is going to take years to get things straightened out. The pay sucks, eveyrone is pissed and there isn't much job security. Why would anyone want to work for the combined company? HP was cool. US was...well US. Now it is a HUGE mess. You can get a job anywhere making the same amount of cash if you put your mind to it. Buy your own airplane and fly on your own terms to fill the flying square.

 

[XBOEINGDRVR]

well said DW, it made me move forward too, and Im much happier now.