Rez O. Lewshun
Save the Profession
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2004
- Posts
- 13,422
So the old offices were cleaned out and the new breed moved in. A breed that also perpetuated themselves. At one time, you could never be an instructor of any sort unless you had flown the line for many years as a captain and knew every nuance of life on the line. All that went by the wayside with the New Age. Knowing someone 'in the office', whilst having no line experience and never being a seasoned captain, was inexperience and ignorance to be rewarded. As the Samurai sword-maker says: "All the blades are hidden within the metal." Yes, and the character of the blade certainly depends upon the quality of that metal."
I miss a time when the words 'in-flight service' was not an oxymoron. We once had - and this is true - such people as 'Stewards' and 'Stewardesses'. Food was served on plates with real silverware. Stewards poured champagne or mixed drinks. Stewardesses were charming, bright, and helpful, catering to the passengers' every need and whim. And the food was superb. Passengers even wore decent clothes, actually dressed for the occasion, and were well-mannered and civil.
This is all fiction now. Top executives sold the idea that an airline seat could be had for $24.99 or some other asinine figure. Then seats should be miniaturized so that maximum income could be gained. All that would have to be done is take away the salary and benefits of the company employees, among other ominous schemes. The airport became the new bus station. Everyman should be able to fly. Now we all pay for it with shoddy service, little concern, and certainly no enthusiasm. Why have master craftsmen do something for five hundred dollars when you can get a cheap imitation for $2.95?
And, naturally I miss the time when the professional airline pilot was respected, when he was not the target of the jealous and petty, or of some agency which needs to show a list of how many people have been inspected - and pilots are easy targets. Those of us who love flight and fought to fly have seen the profession deliberately disparaged to the point where we are to be collectively humiliated before the passengers with near strip searches, unable to speak up for fear of job loss, questioned, belittled, probed, drug-tested, and finally blamed for every company problem including top corporate ill-conceived tactics. We have become the popular scapegoat. And now it is not only the wages to be ravaged but retirement that was bargained for and promised. It may soon be common to have worked in the profession for 30 years and come away with absolutely nothing. That is, for the employees. It will be determined to be 'legal', which has nothing to do with the reality of honor. At least I am departing at a time when only one-half of my retirement has been confiscated. So far.
Even as I go, with unimaginable negativity, discord, and turmoil in abundance within the airline industry, the usual suspects are being rounded up. We are all being asked to do far more for far less while the lords and masters reap the personal fortunes of kings, taking absolutely no personal responsibility or accountability for their business decisions. Stealing the 30-year pensions of dedicated professional employees is considered the coup de jour. After all, how can that $30 million personal ski mansion be built, or the executive jet be flown, or the personal box at Monte Carlo for the Formula One Grand Prix be maintained, if that money is not confiscated?
We have clearly seen how these members of 'royalty' have placed themselves above and beyond the rules of sane, civilized behavior with exceptional arrangements to exclude themselves from any possible corporate downfall. Now, putting 20,000 people out of work brings forth a personal $20 million bonus. Fundamentals of dealing with human beings, basics known as ethics and honor and integrity, no longer have any meaning in this corporate world. The concepts are to be ignored at all costs. As I walk out of the door, making my exit from this morass, a huge burden is lifted from my shoulders. In general, morale and spirit are dead issues. The robber barons are fully exonerated for their crimes, while the public has been conditioned to feel that all people should be equal in misery - so the honorable profession of aviator is continually denigrated. Its stature and glory are now long gone, and as a Japanese friend remarked on the Japan of now versus what he knew as a young man, "It is as though the country has lost its soul." Indeed, this industry has suffered that very fate.
I have experienced great years of flying the big jets around the world. Sunrises and sunsets over the Pacific will play in my mind's theater forever. As best as could be done in the fleet of wide-body jetliners, I have played out my story of joy in the sky. Co-pilots have said, "Best trip I've had," and students not only learned the consequential things but enjoyed themselves in the process. Friends made in cities all around the globe will always be with me. I was there when it was not merely a profession but a celebration of flight, performed with quality and excellence, and with a good measure of fun. Now it is time to go and I am delighted that I can. Sure, there is a measure of sadness, but it is akin to grief over someone who has passed away. They are gone and we will miss them. But they are not coming back. We will keep the memories of the best, as they were, whilst realizing that we must carry on with our lives.
I miss a time when the words 'in-flight service' was not an oxymoron. We once had - and this is true - such people as 'Stewards' and 'Stewardesses'. Food was served on plates with real silverware. Stewards poured champagne or mixed drinks. Stewardesses were charming, bright, and helpful, catering to the passengers' every need and whim. And the food was superb. Passengers even wore decent clothes, actually dressed for the occasion, and were well-mannered and civil.
This is all fiction now. Top executives sold the idea that an airline seat could be had for $24.99 or some other asinine figure. Then seats should be miniaturized so that maximum income could be gained. All that would have to be done is take away the salary and benefits of the company employees, among other ominous schemes. The airport became the new bus station. Everyman should be able to fly. Now we all pay for it with shoddy service, little concern, and certainly no enthusiasm. Why have master craftsmen do something for five hundred dollars when you can get a cheap imitation for $2.95?
And, naturally I miss the time when the professional airline pilot was respected, when he was not the target of the jealous and petty, or of some agency which needs to show a list of how many people have been inspected - and pilots are easy targets. Those of us who love flight and fought to fly have seen the profession deliberately disparaged to the point where we are to be collectively humiliated before the passengers with near strip searches, unable to speak up for fear of job loss, questioned, belittled, probed, drug-tested, and finally blamed for every company problem including top corporate ill-conceived tactics. We have become the popular scapegoat. And now it is not only the wages to be ravaged but retirement that was bargained for and promised. It may soon be common to have worked in the profession for 30 years and come away with absolutely nothing. That is, for the employees. It will be determined to be 'legal', which has nothing to do with the reality of honor. At least I am departing at a time when only one-half of my retirement has been confiscated. So far.
Even as I go, with unimaginable negativity, discord, and turmoil in abundance within the airline industry, the usual suspects are being rounded up. We are all being asked to do far more for far less while the lords and masters reap the personal fortunes of kings, taking absolutely no personal responsibility or accountability for their business decisions. Stealing the 30-year pensions of dedicated professional employees is considered the coup de jour. After all, how can that $30 million personal ski mansion be built, or the executive jet be flown, or the personal box at Monte Carlo for the Formula One Grand Prix be maintained, if that money is not confiscated?
We have clearly seen how these members of 'royalty' have placed themselves above and beyond the rules of sane, civilized behavior with exceptional arrangements to exclude themselves from any possible corporate downfall. Now, putting 20,000 people out of work brings forth a personal $20 million bonus. Fundamentals of dealing with human beings, basics known as ethics and honor and integrity, no longer have any meaning in this corporate world. The concepts are to be ignored at all costs. As I walk out of the door, making my exit from this morass, a huge burden is lifted from my shoulders. In general, morale and spirit are dead issues. The robber barons are fully exonerated for their crimes, while the public has been conditioned to feel that all people should be equal in misery - so the honorable profession of aviator is continually denigrated. Its stature and glory are now long gone, and as a Japanese friend remarked on the Japan of now versus what he knew as a young man, "It is as though the country has lost its soul." Indeed, this industry has suffered that very fate.
I have experienced great years of flying the big jets around the world. Sunrises and sunsets over the Pacific will play in my mind's theater forever. As best as could be done in the fleet of wide-body jetliners, I have played out my story of joy in the sky. Co-pilots have said, "Best trip I've had," and students not only learned the consequential things but enjoyed themselves in the process. Friends made in cities all around the globe will always be with me. I was there when it was not merely a profession but a celebration of flight, performed with quality and excellence, and with a good measure of fun. Now it is time to go and I am delighted that I can. Sure, there is a measure of sadness, but it is akin to grief over someone who has passed away. They are gone and we will miss them. But they are not coming back. We will keep the memories of the best, as they were, whilst realizing that we must carry on with our lives.
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