How Can We Make A Difference?

Snare17

Well-Known Member
Hey guys,

I hear a lot of talk from some of the guys already in the industry about the problems of being an airline pilot. I even hear a couple guys saying that it needs big change.

So I wonder. What can I, and others like me, as a guy with 0 hours who is looking to break into the industry, do to HELP the situation for airline pilots? By that I mean, what can we do to help move things in the right dierection to fix the obvious difficiencies with this job? How can we help get first year pay higher? How can we help pilots get more holidays off? What choices can we make along our path to make the QoL for professional pilots everywhere better? What can I do to make sure that my dollar doesn't encourage the rampant training costs and increasingly lowballed salaries? I think these questions deserve answering, as we dreamers hear a lot of ranting about the problems and sometimes that it's stary-eyed dreamers like us who are willing to put ourselves into huge amounts of debt and work for peanuts that make things worse. What steps can we take to discourage this from being allowable?

Help us understand so that we can change these trends, and make it better for anyone. Let the brainstorming begin. Hopefully we can eventually come to some sort of agreement and have some sort of "what you need to know and do" for the next wave of new guys.

Chris
 
Nothing you can do. Pilots have a lot of free time and like to complain. Most are just sharing their experience. Life is hard. Some have unrealistic expectations.

28 words!
 
there is something that could be done but it would require every pilot in the country to work together. The solution: Don't accept an offer of employment for any wage that is subpar. If everyone did this then the airlines would be forced to raise the bar. Problem is that if someone else takes the job you refused to take then the only thing that happened was you not getting the job. No change in the industry until the airlines are unable to find pilots to fill the right seats of aircraft.
 
Hey guys,

I hear a lot of talk from some of the guys already in the industry about the problems of being an airline pilot. I even hear a couple guys saying that it needs big change.

So I wonder. What can I, and others like me, as a guy with 0 hours who is looking to break into the industry, do to HELP the situation for airline pilots? By that I mean, what can we do to help move things in the right dierection to fix the obvious difficiencies with this job? How can we help get first year pay higher? How can we help pilots get more holidays off? What choices can we make along our path to make the QoL for professional pilots everywhere better? What can I do to make sure that my dollar doesn't encourage the rampant training costs and increasingly lowballed salaries? I think these questions deserve answering, as we dreamers hear a lot of ranting about the problems and sometimes that it's stary-eyed dreamers like us who are willing to put ourselves into huge amounts of debt and work for peanuts that make things worse. What steps can we take to discourage this from being allowable?

Help us understand so that we can change these trends, and make it better for anyone. Let the brainstorming begin. Hopefully we can eventually come to some sort of agreement and have some sort of "what you need to know and do" for the next wave of new guys.

Chris

As an individual it's hard to make a great change like you're proposing but it has to start at some level.

To get first year pay higher, you just have to remember the little guy. When you're senior, don't throw the junior guys under the bus. The industry has a longggg history of this.

To increase QoL, only go to a carrier with a good QoL. It's really that simple. JO, CEO of Mesa once said "I must be paying the pilots too much because there are still resumes coming in." When the resume stack disappears, there's only one thing to do: make the place more palatable. So hold out. Yes, it might take you another 6-12 months to get to the regionals, but in the end it'll be worth it. Don't waste your time at the Mesa and Skywests of the world.

Also, I'll take it a step further... Don't ever vote for a pay cut or any sort of contract concession. Asking for money from pilots is rarely what saves the airline, and the concessions are never returned to the pilots. So just vote no. Burn the house down if you need to. Grow a pair. Don't take it from management just so you can save your job. There will always be jobs, and when you get furloughed, you wouldn't believe the job fairs they have.

First off, you'll never get "more" holidays off, so that's that. It's one of the downsides of the job.
 
For someone starting out, it's not so much things to do, but things not to do.
Don't do someone else's job for a rock bottom wage, don't do it for free and please don't actually pay to do it.
If you don't like the practices of an airline, don't fly on it.
 
If you don't like the practices of an airline, don't fly on it.

Problem is, if I were to do that, I don't think I'd be flying anywhere!

Know what the only group of people airlines treat worse than their customers is?

Their employees.

For the most part, anyway.
 
Here is all we can do...
Keep it Positive!
Keep yourself informed!
Think before you act!
We are professionals, don't give anyone a chance to think otherwise!
And above all else, keep it safe at all costs, keep it safe!!!!
 
Keep it fun. Most of us did not get into flying because we had nothing else to do. Although times are rough in the industry it should never take away from WHY your in the industry in the first place.






Also, its true. Pilots do like to complain a lot. ;)
 
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