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The Regional War

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JustaNumber

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 10, 2005
Posts
922
Any history buffs out there? I’ve noticed there is a striking resemblance between the political world of the late 1930’s/early 1940’s and the airline industry of today.

HUGE DISCLAIMER: I understand that the gravity of our current situation in no way even approaches what happened in WWII. Had any one of us been in any one of the WWII participants’ shoes, without the benefit of hindsight, we may have acted the exact same way. But that’s the beauty of history—maybe we can learn from it.

The way I see it, the regional airlines of today can be compared to the individual countries of Europe in 1939. Naziism represents the opportunism of managements realizing that they can take advantage of growing political instability to rape, pillage and plunder the pilot populations for their own gain—the easiest way for them to achieve their objectives.

Comair = Poland. The Comair pilots are the Polish Jews. They believe they are powerless to stop the Nazi’s, and so they incrementally give up small pieces of freedom and property. They believe that if they just don’t put up a fight, they’ll be treated okay and at least they’ll live to see another day. If only they realized they were being led like docile sheep to a slaughterhouse, they might have put up more of a fight.

ASA = Russia. The Russian people have endured such hardships, and they have so much pride, that they fight to the death. Millions of Russians are lost, but they successfully repel the Nazi’s. On a side note, the Russian government has always been somewhat oppressive and tyrannical themselves, and Russia never really becomes a great place to live.

Germany = Mesa. The German people are just doing what they are told, just trying to do the best for themselves. If Hans doesn’t run the concentration camps, then Franz would, so if someone’s going to do it, what difference does it make? Hans and Franz cooperate with the Nazi’s in exchange for their survival. They don’t appreciate their role in what the world ultimately looks like.

If Mesa = Germany, then that makes J.O. . . . Hitler! (Again, HUGE DISCLAIMER: nowhere near as bad). Need I say more? By the way, Hitler is about to annex Poland.

Expressjet = England. They thought they were isolated from the spread of Naziism, but now the city of London = 69 airplanes under attack. Will they fight?

Skywest = France. They put up a little resistance, but they don’t have much of an army and are powerless to stop the Nazi’s.

Horizon = Switzerland. Through some bizarre twist of fate and geography, Switzerland is not involved in the war, and survives relatively prosperously. By the way, if you do move to Switzerland, it will take you decades to acquire any “property.”

The major airlines = Italy. They have great power to affect the outcome of the situation in Europe, but they mainly look out for their own best interests. Or maybe they’re Japan, as they feel have a divine right to domination of the world?

ALPA = the League of Nations. They have great potential to get all the counties working together to fight Naziism, but also no political motivation. Each nation for themselves! A dismal failure.

Will Naziism continue to spread unchecked, or will individual nations rise up to fight it, even if it seems futile? We’ll have to see what happens. Keep in mind, a competitive Europe can survive and even thrive prosperously without the pillaging ugliness of Naziism!

P.S. Did I miss anyone?
 
Then whom is the US in this little idea. No one, so we are all screwed. By the way, I am a Prussian Jewish Mesa pilot, and I did take offense to your comments. Just b/c you say I am not serious does not mean you can make comparisons to situations that killed over 8 million people and many in my family. Also, the motivation as to why many people take certian jobs does not allow for you or anyone else to say that those reasons are wrong.
 
sflax said:
Then whom is the US in this little idea. No one, so we are all screwed. By the way, I am a Prussian Jewish Mesa pilot, and I did take offense to your comments. Just b/c you say I am not serious does not mean you can make comparisons to situations that killed over 8 million people and many in my family. Also, the motivation as to why many people take certian jobs does not allow for you or anyone else to say that those reasons are wrong.

Actually THIS is the United States of America and he can say anything he wants. And you are free to agree or disagree with him. Thank god the allies won the war. His comments may have been a bit harsh and to some offensive but I thought it was humerous.

I think that Southwest is the U.S. They are a sleeping dragon just waiting for a kick in the ass to jump in the fight and take over the world (or u.s. aviation)
 
sflax said:
Then whom is the US in this little idea. No one, so we are all screwed. By the way, I am a Prussian Jewish Mesa pilot, and I did take offense to your comments. Just b/c you say I am not serious does not mean you can make comparisons to situations that killed over 8 million people and many in my family. Also, the motivation as to why many people take certian jobs does not allow for you or anyone else to say that those reasons are wrong.
Has anyone noticed that it's become an American tradition to be offended at just about anything, no matter how harmless it is? Grow up and take it like a man. :rolleyes:

JustaNumber, great post, and it really does fit the situation pretty well. By the way, JO may not be as bad as Hitler, but he's pretty close. ;) Oh wait, did I offend you again sflax?
 
Last edited:
Not, of course, that it should be construed that Hitler's "contribution" to history should be downplayed, but Stalin was a much bigger monster than Hitler ever was.
 
sflax, you could always take your prussian jewish ass back to the fatherland... or what? no oportunities there? Whats a jew doinig working for a cheap bastard like J.O. for anyway?
 
I had exactly the same thought except I thought of the poem about a pastor in nazi occupied Europe.

"First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me."


Pastor Martin Niemöller

Also, I am a prussian, Incan, Italian, American Indian, Jewish Mesa pilot and I have offended myself, but I apologize, and reject that apology.

I will see you in court my good sir!!
 
sflax said:
Also, the motivation as to why many people take certian jobs does not allow for you or anyone else to say that those reasons are wrong.
Tell that to all the people on here telling others not to take a job at Mesa :laugh:
 
PCL_128 said:
Has anyone noticed that it's become any American tradition to be offended at just about anything, no matter how harmless it is? Grow up and take it like a man. :rolleyes:

Hey-

As an American, I'm offended by those comments.

HA!

The ACLU and Lawyers suck. They are the root of all that is bad in the U.S. today.
 
So,
Does that make AWAC the US, knocked down at the beginning, ready to rise up and smite Germany (Mesa) by being awarded most of their USAir flying, and (hopefully) winning the war by winning back the original, pre-concessionary contract (which kicks ass on any other regional contract out there)?

And where does that leave Eagle, TSA, RAH, etc.

Just wondering.

Rekks

Not trying to flame, I honestly lke the analogy, very creative and not at all innaccurate.
 
SouthWest=USA

Treat the people right and give them some freedom and see all the good that flows forth!

RJDC=Manhattan Project Building the secret weapon to thwart the evil empire of Herndon
 
my 2 cents

Probably one of the best posts I've seen and please expand the story if you have time. Anyone who argues against free speech including this thread should be gassed.
 
Good post.

This industry is going down the toilet. That is why I work for hours every day trying to buid a better income outside of aviation so I can leave when the bottom falls out.

Comair not standing up did not help.
 
Hambone said:
... Anyone who argues against free speech including this thread should be gassed.
Anyone who thinks guns should be legal should be shot.
 
I'm offended that so many are offended by my post, dammitall!

Seriously, I did consider that Southwest = the U.S. If you think about it, so many in Europe would have given anything to get out of that rotten war zone to live in the prosperous U.S. Sure, the people work hard here, but they are treated well and the government is fair. The U.S. does become the world's only remaining superpower. But alas, immigration limitations will relegate most Europeans to live out their lives in their current nation, contrary to their original plans.

How about this? Jetblue = Canada. Sure, it sounds good from the depths of Nazi Germany, but when you get there, you realize, "this kind of sucks, eh?"

(Insert politically correct disclaimer here) No offense to Canadians!
 
sflax said:
Also, the motivation as to why many people take certian jobs does not allow for you or anyone else to say that those reasons are wrong.

As I said in my disclaimer, I might have acted the same way as many of the participants in WWII if I had been there, and by extension, I can understand why so many people in today's airline industry act the way they do.

My main point was to provide an interesting--if somewhat controversial--metaphor to start a halfway intelligent dialogue about the ramifications of our actions in a larger context. I hope you can understand this.

Good luck to us all!
 
av8er2 said:
Good post.

This industry is going down the toilet. That is why I work for hours every day trying to buid a better income outside of aviation so I can leave when the bottom falls out.

Comair not standing up did not help.

You are sad. How can you say comair did not stand up.
For the past four years we have been the only ones standing. Every new contract that came along and undercut us did so using the "you signed pre 911, the economy is not the same now as it was when you signed your contract" excuse.
Well our BS agreement was made in BK, after Delta removed thirty airframes from our company. That is more pressure than you have ever felt. I voted NO on this deal, I can understand why people voted YES, they are under different pressure than me. I don't stand here and blame them for my loss (income), for some reason you do though. You should try pionting the finger where it belongs (ATL).

You need to get some fact before you make blustering remarks.
 
sflax said:
Then whom is the US in this little idea?
Well, with all due respect to Americans at the time before Dec. 7 1941, we were pretty much isolationists. Content to do what we wanted to here in the good ole USA.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor "woke up the sleeping giant" and so here we are today, driving Toyota cars, watching Sony televisions and smart bombing towel heads. Was there some confusion?
 
Great post - still laughing.

I think that the Fractionals are the US. Sleeping giants taking all of the real wealth and growing stronger month by month.
 
Of course France invaded Russia in order to rescue it from the downfall of one of the Italian provinces.

Thanks Napoleon!
Back to my regularly scheduled beer.
 
av8er2 said:
Good post.

This industry is going down the toilet. That is why I work for hours every day trying to buid a better income outside of aviation so I can leave when the bottom falls out.

Comair not standing up did not help.

Maybe if you worked hours every day on leading and organizing your fellow pilots you could help pull this career feild out of the trash can.
 
SiuDude said:
Of course France invaded Russia in order to rescue it from the downfall of one of the Italian provinces.

Thanks Napoleon!
Back to my regularly scheduled beer.

Wrong century, but pretty clever. Be careful though, it was French cockiness that became Napoleon's Waterloo.
 
I’ve come up with a couple more.

Eagle = China. China’s pretty large; who would mess with them? Well, it turns out the Japanese need some more territory because the island of Japan is just too small for the Japanese population. So Japan invades China to grab some extra land; the Japanese people view the Chinese as lesser people anyway, so it really is just a matter of life that some Chinese will have to die. By the way, prior to that point Japan claimed they had an immigration policy to allow the Chinese in if there was room, but very few Chinese ever actually immigrated to Japan.

This one’s a little more obscure, but then so are the airlines involved!
1948: G-o-J-e-t-s = Israel. The Italians have no use for the European Jews, as they view them as second-class citizens, but this time they don’t want them dead, they just want them to live somewhere else. But Jews are not allowed in the current state of Palestine, so Israel is created to give them a place to live. (It doesn’t matter that they’ll be really just living in what used to be “Palestine” anyway). The Israelis have technically done nothing wrong, but all their neighbors, especially the Palestinians, are mad at them for “coming from nowhere and getting all the really good land.”
 

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