Flylo
Bearhawk Builder
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2003
- Posts
- 121
As a complete outsider and a low time pilot who has no bones to pick with anyone in the aviation industry; I'd like to ask a few questions and make an observation or two (as a consumer) about the current financial state of some of the major carriers
and the relationship of their plight, to their pilots' wages.
FIRST OBSERVATION:
I'm planing a round-trip to Orlando from Chicago later this month so I got these quotations off the internet this morning.
Standard Fare, Refundable: - UAL - $1,446.50 -- -- SWA - $458.00
Lower or Discount Fare ------ UAL --- $666.50 -- -- SWA - $268.00
FIRST QUESTION:
Hummmm, If Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were traveling together, I wonder which one they'd take?
I realize, of course, that I would have to suffer the indignity of downtown Chicago traffic to get to MDW and would miss out on the earth shaking thrill of departing from ORD if I went with SWA. But......
SECOND OBSERVATION:
UAL employs about 10,000 pilots (or did). <I know this isn't exactly right but bear with me> If each one of those pilots is being paid $300,000 per year and they take a 50% pay cut, that would save UAL about $125,000,000 per month.
THIRD OBSERVATION:
UAL announced that they lost $382,000,000 in January. (Let's see....I believe that would still leave $257,000,000 in the RED)
SECOND QUESTION;
Is it possible that something besides employee wages (other than managements', of course) could be the problem?
FOURTH OBSERVATION: (and possible partial solution)
Pilots' wages don't appear, at least to this untutored observer, to be the real problem. If I were a stock holder in UAL I would try my best to get the management team tarred and feathered and them use their charred and fuzzy corpses to fill
potholes in the runway.
THIRD QUESTION:
Why, if September 11th is the problem, is SWA still making money and charging so much less?
FOURTH QUESTION:
Which flight would you book?
Light 'em up!!
and the relationship of their plight, to their pilots' wages.
FIRST OBSERVATION:
I'm planing a round-trip to Orlando from Chicago later this month so I got these quotations off the internet this morning.
Standard Fare, Refundable: - UAL - $1,446.50 -- -- SWA - $458.00
Lower or Discount Fare ------ UAL --- $666.50 -- -- SWA - $268.00
FIRST QUESTION:
Hummmm, If Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were traveling together, I wonder which one they'd take?
I realize, of course, that I would have to suffer the indignity of downtown Chicago traffic to get to MDW and would miss out on the earth shaking thrill of departing from ORD if I went with SWA. But......
SECOND OBSERVATION:
UAL employs about 10,000 pilots (or did). <I know this isn't exactly right but bear with me> If each one of those pilots is being paid $300,000 per year and they take a 50% pay cut, that would save UAL about $125,000,000 per month.
THIRD OBSERVATION:
UAL announced that they lost $382,000,000 in January. (Let's see....I believe that would still leave $257,000,000 in the RED)
SECOND QUESTION;
Is it possible that something besides employee wages (other than managements', of course) could be the problem?
FOURTH OBSERVATION: (and possible partial solution)
Pilots' wages don't appear, at least to this untutored observer, to be the real problem. If I were a stock holder in UAL I would try my best to get the management team tarred and feathered and them use their charred and fuzzy corpses to fill
potholes in the runway.
THIRD QUESTION:
Why, if September 11th is the problem, is SWA still making money and charging so much less?
FOURTH QUESTION:
Which flight would you book?
Light 'em up!!