Why the &%#* do you work there?

[SuperPilot]

I recently heard someone say something about the current events in our industry that I think hit it right on the head. "What is happening now is like what was happening in the beginning of aviation. It was very low pay. No work rules. No security. And very dangerous. But those guys went out every day because they loved to fly. That is how it is for most of us today (except for the danger). We still do it for the passion of flight. I believe it is our time to take the career of flying back up to the glory days it was not too long ago. If you have read FLYING THE LINE, you should see a lot of similarities to today." Now all those guys who are bailing out because of money don't really want it (and they are making more space for the rest of us who do) and are going to do nothing but bitch about it. And I agree there is quite a bit to bitch about, but that accomplishes nothing. We need to get together and make it the best **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** job in the world.

Sorry for the rambling, just had to put in my .02.

 

[bigD]

Chicks Dig It

Man, you must be doing something I'm not!

 

[spitfire1940]

Hey Superpilot,

I appreciate your happy attitude, but give me a break.

The guys bitching about the pay are often guys with wives and kids who have bills to pay. For a lot of us, "the money" is not about getting rich, it's about knowing how you're going to pay the mortage for the next few months and put food on the table.

And then there's the basic principle (or lack therof) of a company like ACA asking FOs who are making less than $30,000 a year to make wage and quality of life concessions.

Excuse me, but have you checked what the CEO of ACA earns??
Or the management SOBs at any of the majors?? Cutting a couple strings of their golden parachutes would more than make up for all the cuts the pilots are being asked to make.

I live in the DC suburbs and the guys stocking shelves in grocery stores earn more than you do flying that Beech 1900. Yeah, yeah, the view is better from the 1900 and you get that nifty uniform, but for people in their 30s (or more) with responsibilities and obligations--that ain't cutting it!! (I'm assuming your single or have a working spouse and no kids.)

I know a woman who's a cashier at a supermarket who makes $45,000 a year. Now consider how long it takes to make that kind of money at a regional. Maybe pilots ought to contact the cashiers' union!

Does that sound right? Let's see, the person standing at a cash register earns the same, or more, than the person flying an RJ. Hmmm, is it just me or is there something fundamentally F@#$%^! up about that?

Fact is that a lot of us are forced by this industry to ask when enough is enough, when our love for jet-engine noise and fancy avionics is hurting our families.

If the commuters would just start FOs in the low 30s I could tolerate it. Why can't they do that? Why can't someone who's (partially) responsible for a $20 million aircraft and the lives of dozens of passengers get paid at least a decent middle-class wage? (and that's LOWER middle class where I live--you can't buy a house here for under $250,000.) I know that rat bastard Kit Darby would tell me to move ...

The reason the airlines don't pay more is because they don't have to, because there are plenty of people willing to work for peanuts because flying so so much fun.

Dude, not even prostitutes--at least not the good ones--sell themselves so cheap!!!

Where does that leave us???

 

[Cadillac]

I think its great when someone says they love to fly. What I hate is when they use that as an excuse to work for poor wages. If you love to fly as a professional, then you should be paid as a professional. If you just love to fly, take off the polyester airline uniform, get a job outside aviation, and fly your 152 on the weekends. The rest of us who have chosen this as a CAREER need to eat.

 

[greyhound]

Still not an airline pilot yet, but...
I think most stay for the love of flying AND.....
they want to gain seniority in their company of choice.
Flying, and career progression is what keeps us going.
Nobody truly likes to make $18K a year to do something that took you $40K to learn to do. But it is still done because we feel that eventually we will make more money, have more time off, become a captain or an instructor and things will be slightly better.
You can't find an easy cure to take away the love of flying, but take away career progression, and YES, pilots will start bailing out...

 

[SuperPilot]

Spitfire,

My happy attitude is all I have right now. I can't afford anything else. I know the pay sucks. I know the workrules suck. I have firsthand experience with all the bad crap that can go on at the airlines. I actually have stood in the lines at Continental and United. I have seen what happened to my family thanks to guys like Lorenzo. My dad has about 11 different uniforms in his closet. Of the 4 major airlines he's worked at ALL 4 OF THEM WENT BANKRUPT.
I still can't believe when I read things like UAL giving out an average of $70k to their top 100 or so execs. They're bankrupt for @#$% sake! There is a lot going on in our industry that is not right and shouldn't even be legal. All I'm trying to say is that instead of bitching about how bad things are, we need to start trying to make it better. If you can, contribute to the PAC, get invovled with a commitee. Do something.
I know that I am new to this and yea, I'm tickled pink that I get to go to work in an airplane but the pay still sucks for me too. I can't even afford a table to hopefully make enough to put food on. But I'm also not just sitting around wondering why a check out clerk makes more than me. I'm not trying to sound idealistic or anything, I just think that this career choice can be both fun and fruitful but we have to fight for it. And it won't be easy.

 

[FSB99]

I think its great when someone says they love to fly. What I hate is when they use that as an excuse to work for poor wages. If you love to fly as a professional, then you should be paid as a professional. If you just love to fly, take off the polyester airline uniform, get a job outside aviation, and fly your 152 on the weekends. The rest of us who have chosen this as a CAREER need to eat.

this is what i was trying to say, but i tend to ramble and lose my point!

 

[spitfire1940]

SuperPilot,

What happened to your dad is terrible. But the more I learn about the industry the more I doubt that any significant changes can be made.

You've got the right attitude and maybe I was too hard on you before. You're also right that there's nothing worse than bitching ...

But what if the solution is not PACs and unions but sticking the CEO of ACA's head on a pike and setting it out next to one of the taxiways at IAD?

The suits are always going to screw us. Maybe a couple of good years and the unions will find their testi&*@S and win back some of the concessions they're making now.

Good luck and keep hanging on--there's nothing else to do.