Virgin America cleared to fly!!!

[embdrvr]

VA is Virgin Atlantic

Those are not Virgin America rates.

$85 / hour for captains is the number I've heard.

 

[Shrek]

Still way too low..........

 

[Splinter]

Exactly.

Plenty of bastards who will fly for them and let them thrive. It's one thing to scab your airline, making it difficult for the pilots of your airline to maintain or improve their quality of life. Another thing to support an airline that will essentially make it difficult for every pilot everywhere to maintain and improve their quality of life/standard of living.

Good job. So where are these VA pilots coming from? If they ever want to call in a union, f*ck 'em. They had their chance.

That's what everyone said about Southwest and they are leading the pack in pay. Get over it. If you are at Mesa, are you going to stay, or take a chance on Virgin America? No where can suck as bad as Mesa, so it's not really a risk for those pilots, or anyone at a regional for that matter.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

Huck's First Law of Airlines: Unemployed pilots will always have a different perspective than employed pilots.

It's great to grab your balls and call for a jumpseat war. But if you were unemployed, with kids at home and a mortgage to make, you'd take a job there in a heartbeat. "Oh no, I could never take THAT job! I'll hold out for something better!" My ass....

I've heard the same thing from FDX guys about me working for Gemini. But again, they're employed, so their perspective is different. Ask the furloughed guys/gals if they'd go do it.

Amen.

With training contracts gone, there is a simple rule. If you are hired by a low paying operation you will eventually leave for a better paying operation.

When the the cost of training replacements gets too high, they raise the pay. If you find a non-flying job that pays better or offers better QOL you leave.

ALPA can only do so much. Railway Labor Act and all, it is hard to enforce a minimum livable wage. It is still a matter of having the right contacts or winning the lottery land the right job now.

...Or just be painfully patient. Many a 40 year old pilot is getting on at SWA, UPS and FedEx.

All that said, pilots ought to be careful who they apply and work for. If it is a scumbag outfit, they might run you into the ground in the "training environment". Then you will have a training failure to explain or shifty supervisors that will be contacted as part of your next interview.

 

[AA717driver]

They are paying $95/hr. for line CA's and getting people with lots of Airbus time. If you're at Spirit or J4J with the prospect of going back to the 190 at USAir, what would you do? Oh, I know, you'd maintain your "dignity and self-respect" and stay at a crappy job rather than go to VA.

It's easy to be high and mighty sitting behind the keyboard. TC

P.S.--Baja and Tomct: I've known this guy for nearly 20 years and flown with him. Ok, maybe I was a little strong in my condemnation but if you don't know what you're talking about when trashing someone, don't do it.

Tomct--Why do you think I'm angry at the business? I've had it pretty good and have no plans to get out. And, since you don't know the guy I'm talking about, you aren't qualified to say that he's NOT the greatest guy ever.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

Hey, I flew that plane, with that paint job! Long live the Fokker, what a battle ship.

 

[Golden Falcon]

Hey TC nice picture of the Air Willy whistle-pig thats going back a few years..

 

[ExFokkerFlyer]

Fokkers kick a$$

 

[jonjuan]

Some aircraft pictures

http://www.engadget.com/photos/mega...airbus-a320-with-red-in-flight-entertainment/

Looks pretty cool...........................for the passengers.

 

[Say Again Over]

No where can suck as bad as Mesa

How bout Mesa's non union counterpart! lol

 

[AA717driver]

Falcon--The next one will be an Iowa Airways E110.

Ralph--When were you at Willie? I was based in FWA in '88. Great company but the AW v. MVA smackdown every friggin trip was too much to handle. TC

 

[Dodge]

and they want to know if you will pay for your type rating....

That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that before?????

 

[Ralph Cramden]

Falcon--The next one will be an Iowa Airways E110.

Ralph--When were you at Willie? I was based in FWA in '88. Great company but the AW v. MVA smackdown every friggin trip was too much to handle. TC

I am a Mudder. MVA 5/80, went to RIC in '86, then ACA on April Fool's day '93 flying the Dash 8. Was flying the bus for Indy when it died. Did you ever fly east coast for willie?

 

[Juvat]

Exactly.

Plenty of bastards who will fly for them and let them thrive. It's one thing to scab your airline, making it difficult for the pilots of your airline to maintain or improve their quality of life. Another thing to support an airline that will essentially make it difficult for every pilot everywhere to maintain and improve their quality of life/standard of living.

Good job. So where are these VA pilots coming from? If they ever want to call in a union, f*ck 'em. They had their chance.

This is the most idiotic post I've read here in months. According to your flawed logic, a person should not seek a job to feed his own family so that other nameless pilots whom he's never met can enjoy less competition. Brilliant.

 

[Lear70]

TC is pretty spot-on about guys going to VA, especially if they get hired in directly as CA's.

Not to say that 9/11 or the resultant furloughs was ALPA's fault (although they've dropped the ball in about 100 other areas since then), but if a guy got booted to the street and had no other job offers except a CA slot at VA, or even an F/O slot with an upgrade less than 1 year, do you REALLY expect him/her to stay on the street or at a crappy regional making $55 an hour as an RJ CA?

Yeah, right...

I wouldn't go to work there for those wages, not to mention the unknowns of trip construction, commutability, overnights, days off, etc.

Like someone else said, the only thing that really matters to me at this point is stability (so I'm not in the same boat as some of these guys), pay, and QOL (commutability and days off with family). Period.

These guys aren't taking anyone else's flying, they're not taking people's jobs, they're not Scabbing. They're U.S. Citizens working in this country for a Part 121 carrier.

Do I like that it increases capacity? Nope. Do I like that the pay is going to be on the low side of Pax 121 carriers? Nope. Do I feel it necessary to persecute the pilots for it?

Nope.

Might want to take a look in the mirror and see what YOU would do if you were suddenly unemployed. I went to a crap-hole regional that I SWORE I'd never work for, albeit as a Street CA, but went nonetheless. That's my low point in aviation. So, having been there, I can certainly understand where these people are coming from.

Your mileage may vary.