This Roger Cohen makes me want to puke

[WayBack]

Do you think "mainlines" are all of a sudden going to pay high wages? Hello! They are going broke now. Get a clue. Not all regionals are Colgan.

There are those who still strive for Hope and Change, and then there are those who has a grip on reality and know pay will never go back up.
Why would pay go up, after it has been constantly cut? Mainline management can abuse the courts and get their ways, and the unions can't and will not be able to stop it.

But they will there and blow smoke up your dupa, telling you "We're Taking it Back!"

 

[shroomwell]

Start simple to fix the airlines:

ATP required to be a Part 121 FO
-500 hours Multi

If you do not meet the above your company has 2 years to replace you.

Watch the wages and benefits improve when nobody shows for class at the current scale. Don't worry ALPA will find a way to lower the bar!

Exactly, I just finished watching the Frontline show, no real surprises. Colgan is a bottom feeder, and in order to maintain low pay and stay a bottom feeder they have to hire questionable pilots. Neither of those two pilots should have been hired to fly Part 121 with the levels of experience that they had.

The second part, as wages go up bottom feeders go away and the supply of pilots increases. Then airlines can be pickier about hiring people who failed nearly every check ride they took.

I agree with the basic premise of the Frontline piece, and that is that this accident is a direct result of the bought and paid for FAA and Congress.

 

[WayBack]

Well, tough break really. It is not the regionals "flying" in the first place. It belongs to someone else..... if it goes away, it goes away. It is simply contract work...It does not belong to "you" and is not "your" flying. I always laugh when pilots at regionals get all huffy that another regional is "taking" their flying..... but when asked if they know where it came from in the first place, they do not even bat an eye. An example is the whining from some pilots about Colgan "taking" flying from Express Jet.... they are doing nothing of the sort. #1 that flying never was theirs(XJT) in the first place, it belongs to Continental Airlines. #2, Continental can do with that flying as they see fit(see #1).

However, its highly unlikely the mainlines will ever get all that flying back, but it does belong to them and can do with it as they see fit for business purposes(i.e. change contracts as they see fit to the least expensive regional for cost reduction reasons.... its just business, nothing personal.) Now it is up to that regional to conduct a safe operation..... but those regionals should be much smaller then they are today and actually feed instead of supplement/ take mainline flying.

Thank You, Captain Obvious!

 

[CX880]

You think so, huh? You think weren't hired because of flight time, or more along the lines that he didn't like you? I've heard by several Colgan pilots that how he is, even walking out of your interview if he's not impressed. He's hired guys with low time for a long time.

it wasn't an interview. he just called me to tell me to get more flight time since i applied below mins. I thought it was kind of odd that he actually took the time to call, I guess they were desperate, but it was still nice to talk to him since he's a legend...

 

[Nevets]

Cohen is the president of the RAA which represents regional airline management. Some of the members include:

SkyWest Holdings

Air Wisconsin

Cape Air

PSA Airlines

Republic Airways Holdings

American Eagle Airlines

Gulfstream International Airlines

Empire Airlines

Trans States Holdings

Jazz Air

ExpressJet

Great Lakes Aviation

 

[sunlitpath]

Colgan is so gay...

 

[BrickTop]

What is Cohen's resume?

F*&K his resume. Give me his address....

 

[Abernathy]

What, exactly, did he say that made him a tool? If anything, he didn't defend our industry enough. There are no first officers at ASA earning under $35,000 per year or so. The average is probably closer to $40,000.00 - $45,000.00, since we haven't hired in so long.

Of course, ASA is a "major" airline by definition, and truly cannot be placed in the same bucket as other smaller regional airlines. That is a point that this show didn't make. Not all regionals are the same, and that is an important fact.

It also didn't make the point that regionals do more takeoffs and landings and more legs per day at 52% of the flights for the majors. It is pure mathematics that more accidents will be at the regional level. If most of the flights were the majors, but the accidents were at the regional level, THEN it might mean something.

Remember guys, this show has an axe to grind, and they edit and show what they want the public to see.

I have been here since Brian LaBrecque and, before taxes and benefits are pulled from my check, I bring in $33K, maybe slightly more if you include per-diem. Do you know how many years you have to be here as an FO to get off reserve and get off making minimum guarantee? Upgrade to Captain used to be quicker than the time it takes to get off right seat reserve. So when you say there are NO FOs here who make "under 35K" you are sorely mistaken and it's actually insulting to read.

ASA is a good airline to work for, but it is by no means "above and beyond" in respect to pay. It is in line with Expressjet, Skywest, American Eagle, and not even close to the level that Horizon Air is at. Our payscale is better than Mesa's and Pinnacle's, but just barely.

EDIT: Having just looked at Mesa's payscale, I take the last sentence of my last paragraph back. Jesus Fckng Christ Mesa pilots, is Roger Cohen your MEC chairman?

 

[SLUF4]

I worry that we at ASA and some of the other regionals turn a blind eye to some of these issues thinking we are better than colgan or mesa. There were a lot of butt kissing comments on ourasa for brad's update talking about how good we are. The fact is that we have grueling schedules also and our maintenance hasn't exactly been stellar in the last year. Could be better, could be worse, that's all i'm saying.

 

[ASA_Aviator]

I have been here since Brian LaBrecque and, before taxes and benefits are pulled from my check, I bring in $33K, maybe slightly more if you include per-diem. Do you know how many years you have to be here as an FO to get off reserve and get off making minimum guarantee? Upgrade to Captain used to be quicker than the time it takes to get off right seat reserve. So when you say there are NO FOs here who make "under 35K" you are sorely mistaken and it's actually insulting to read.

ASA is a good airline to work for, but it is by no means "above and beyond" in respect to pay. It is in line with Expressjet, Skywest, American Eagle, and not even close to the level that Horizon Air is at. Our payscale is better than Mesa's and Pinnacle's, but just barely.

EDIT: Having just looked at Mesa's payscale, I take the last sentence of my last paragraph back. Jesus Fckng Christ Mesa pilots, is Roger Cohen your MEC chairman?

I apologize. There are probably few FOs who make under $35K. Most, if not all, make over $30K. I would be interested to see what the average is. I bet it is over $40K for FOs.

This is a dead horse. It sucks that first year FOs make so little, but the system is what it is. If you want more pay in the first few years, get active in the union, and negotiate a more equitable rate across the board. The senior captains don't want to give up a dollar or two to equalize the pay structure, even though to do so would make the career earnings higher. (More pay at an earlier time = more retirement, if you save it right.)

ALPA eats its young...