Thoughts
I too read the article in USA. Some of the points have been made & debated. I won't enter that fray but do wish to make the following observation about a comment FlyDeltajets.. No disrespect FDJ, just wanted to comment:
We deserve (my emphasis added) to be well compensated for the jobs we do. It is just a shame that so few pilots seem to think so anymore.
The market place (i.e. customer) determines how much our services are worth, not ourselves. Labor groups can withold their services or use other measures to drive that worth up but in reality this only delays the normal economic cycle which drives salaries to their determined level (determined by customers).
This industry has changed forever. Continuing to wish for something to return to a previous state when it has irreparably changed forever is like wishing for the airplane to come back to the gate to pickup the late passenger....it just won't happen.
I, like so many on here, have many friends that are going through incredibly difficult times. I empathize with their position but can't imagine the pain & frustration those who are furloughed/unemployed must be experiencing. I only hope and prayer for their quick return to meaningful employment. I just don't believe it will be at wages that previously existed. This is no one's fault, it is the economic system we live under....one I believe is the strongest in existance. It allows for great success but it also allows for failure. To guarantee only success would be to make something I wouldn't want to be a part of.
If some posts appear to gloat over a reduction in pay by some I believe those are being mis-read. I would like my family to have so many more things than what I have right now. If I really wish for them to have it then I need to do something (make more money) for that to occur. Deserve doesn't have anything to do with, it is what I'm willing to sacrifice for them in order to achieve it.
For those "fighting" to keep wages high. If that is the justification you use to turn down contracts, then nothing I say will change your opinion most likely. I will state what other believe I think:don't feel you're doing it for my family, other pilot's family or anything else other than a misdirected sense of allegiance to someone/some group other than your family. You're not taking some bunker in Baghdad, it's only a job, one that provides a steady stream of income for your family. My family rate much higher on my food chain than a group of 100,000+ pilots. For those who might find this shocking, please increase the medication immediately.
My mother (she is 85) related a similar economic evolution story to me recently:
She recalled in 1925 when electricity came to her small rural home. Prior to that their icebox was serviced by the iceman several times a week with huge blocks of ice at some expense. They (the consumer) elected to tap into the new electric lines near their homes & immediately purchased a refrigerator. The ice man's business slowly changed to providing ice from home use to filling up refrigeration cars for the trains passing through. Once refrigerated railroad cars came along the final death kneel occurred for his business. I'm sure he thought he deserved a better fate than what he got but the consumer dictated his future, not what he thought he "deserved". This isn't right or wrong, it is about economic freedom. It is a simple story & doesn't include labor unions, strikes, work action or other labor actions so if you wish to critique the illustration, point conceded.
Companies wishing to alter their business models to adjust to these times are ones that should be admired & encouraged. I applaud what the management & labor groups of all the airlines are doing to achieve this goal. They are betting their position with their lives, family lives and future career earnings....I'm hopeful SWA isn't pushed to this dilemma but one can't be complacent that is for sure. I wish them only the best. Cheers & God Bless our troops,
