idratherfly4283 said:
Ok for all those cry baby whiners out there, you knew what you are getting into. Everyone knows how this career field is, if you can't take it, go elsewhere, i was trying to make a light situation out of a serious one, but then you proceeded to piss me off. If you guys don't like getting furloghed, having pensions cut and the like then either quit and find a new career or strike and try to do something about it. Quit crying like a bunch of babies, sell your hundred thousand dollar boats and your house in the keys and try and live like the rest of america. You guys still make so much more than the average american. You think I am sitting here giving a crap that you are pulling down 200k a year and still can't pay the bills? No, it's called life in this career. Yes it is sad it has to happen, but if you all can't sit back and make light of a horrible situation once in awhile you are going to have a crappy rest of your life. You guys make me sick
This is a good example of why the bar is continually being lowered. Idratherfly4283, I'm not flaming you or trying to insult you, but I am just pointing out the obvious here.
You said:
"You guys still make so much more than the average american. You think I am sitting here giving a crap that you are pulling down 200k a year and still can't pay the bills?"
The average pilot typically is far more educated and skilled than the average American. The average pilot has more responsibility than the average American. The average pilot is away from home more than the average American. This is not just an "average job", otherwise every average American would be flocking to it.
Because this is not your average job and a pilot has sacrificed a lot more than the aveage American, he/she has EARNED and DESERVES a higher-than-average salary.
You say you don't give a crap about pilots pulling down $200K a year and still can't pay the bills. Maybe you should offer to teach courses on personal finance. Or, more realistically, you should really stop posting uneducated phrases and making a fool out of yourself.
"Everyone knows how this career field is, if you can't take it, go elsewhere, i was trying to make a light situation out of a serious one, but then you proceeded to piss me off."
You are correct, everyone who is in this profession knows how tough this career field is. Those that are here have chosen it's challenges with the hope of being rewarded. An even greater majority have viewed the challenges and decided to choose another career before taking their first flight lesson, thus becoming an "average American" and earning an "average wage."
"Quit crying like a bunch of babies, sell your hundred thousand dollar boats and your house in the keys and try and live like the rest of america."
And how does the rest of America live? I don't know about you, but I know a lot of pilots at various major airlines, including mine, and I have yet to meet one who owns a $100K boat and a house in the keys. Most, including myself, own a modest home in a nice part of town, drive an older car, and live below our means. The last time I checked, the "rest of America" was in serious debt, filing personal bankruptcies, and was trying to live way ABOVE their means. Again, you have managed to make a very uneducated, stupid statement. Who do you know that owns a $100K boat and has a house in the keys? Or, did you happen to hear another CFI at your flight school just mention that as a cliche??
"No, it's called life in this career."
Judging by your tone, attitude, and demeanor in your above post, I don't believe you have enough experience to even guess what life in this career is all about. I would venture to guess that your only exposure in this career field so far is the 500TT you have logged so far in the practice area and in the traffic pattern.
"If you guys don't like getting furloghed, having pensions cut and the like then either quit and find a new career or strike and try to do something about it."
So, after managing to insult and otherwise ridicule ALL professional pilots out there, you are now offering some advice on what people with 100 times your experience level should do. Maybe you should offer to teach a seminar on this.
IN CLOSING:
You, my friend, are one of the many people responsible for the lowering of standards in this industry. When times were good, you probably hung posters of Boeing's and Airbuses next to your Brittany Spears poster hoping and dreaming of that big airline career, including the big salaries that come with it. Times are bad right now, but you think $200K/yr is too much money, especially since you don't make that amount. So, as the bar gets lowered, so do your standards. Is $100K/yr a justified amount for you to pay a B-777 Captain? To you it probably is, since it's a lot more than you are probably making right now. I guarantee that $100K/yr is not going to be a lot of money 20 years from now. But, you'll figure it out by then, because you are one who will sign a 20-year contract and sell your soul just to "fly a jet".
And before you compare pilot salaries to those of the "average American", why don't you also compare education requirements and dues that have to be paid as well.