Seggy
Well-Known Member
I have been doing some thinking. People LOVE bashing Colgan and quite frankly it is uncalled for.
Yes we have our issues, however, to bash us as 'undercutters' etc is quite uncalled for. First off, when I first started off at Colgan, NO ONE knew who we where. I remember jumpseating for the first time on Airways, happy as a kid in a candy shop to be sitting up front on a 757 from MCO to CLT. The crew had NO IDEA who Colgan was. This was a recurring issue for my first year and a half here. NO ONE knew who we where, what we flew, or cared for that matter. A few times, while jumping on contracted flying operators I was look at and thought of as a cute odity. 'Aww, it is a poor Colgan guy, when are you going to make the jump and fly a RJ,' was said numerous times to me while traveling around.
In the past year and a half, the calls have been greater for calling us undercutters, contracted flying stealers, whatever. I ask, what makes us undercuttersstealer's though? Yes we need a union here, but the more and more I talk to other people at other airlines, things really are on par with other airlines, if not better.
Some people love to bash us on pay. Well, our pay rates suck, but, our pay rules do make up for it in a way. We are paid for first flight of the day checks, runups, repos, wx cancelations, hot reserve pay (which basically is a duty rig pay which I doubt other airlines have), block or better, and other little oddities that one can work in. Are guys at XJET being paid to do their first flight of the day checks? What about at ASA, RAH, or American Eagle? My pay credit yesterday was suppose to be 4:27 minutes. Well I was stuck all day in BDL with a mechanical. Ended up with a 6:56 minute pay credit, didn't fly a leg, and made it home six hours late. Is that really undercutting anyone? Made more for the day than I was scheduled to do and didn't have to say V1. I am not bragging here, just saying.
A lot of people love to bash our scheduling department and what they make our pilots do. After hearing stories about other airlines scheduling departments, well we all have the same issues.
Yes, we do need improvement here, we need ALPA on property, and we must raise the bar.
However, as times are tough in this industry, it is easy to point fingers at particularly groups. We must all look in the mirror and look at ourselves first before we point the finger at others. Don't look at one particular group for the problems of this industry. Not fair or right.
Yes we have our issues, however, to bash us as 'undercutters' etc is quite uncalled for. First off, when I first started off at Colgan, NO ONE knew who we where. I remember jumpseating for the first time on Airways, happy as a kid in a candy shop to be sitting up front on a 757 from MCO to CLT. The crew had NO IDEA who Colgan was. This was a recurring issue for my first year and a half here. NO ONE knew who we where, what we flew, or cared for that matter. A few times, while jumping on contracted flying operators I was look at and thought of as a cute odity. 'Aww, it is a poor Colgan guy, when are you going to make the jump and fly a RJ,' was said numerous times to me while traveling around.
In the past year and a half, the calls have been greater for calling us undercutters, contracted flying stealers, whatever. I ask, what makes us undercuttersstealer's though? Yes we need a union here, but the more and more I talk to other people at other airlines, things really are on par with other airlines, if not better.
Some people love to bash us on pay. Well, our pay rates suck, but, our pay rules do make up for it in a way. We are paid for first flight of the day checks, runups, repos, wx cancelations, hot reserve pay (which basically is a duty rig pay which I doubt other airlines have), block or better, and other little oddities that one can work in. Are guys at XJET being paid to do their first flight of the day checks? What about at ASA, RAH, or American Eagle? My pay credit yesterday was suppose to be 4:27 minutes. Well I was stuck all day in BDL with a mechanical. Ended up with a 6:56 minute pay credit, didn't fly a leg, and made it home six hours late. Is that really undercutting anyone? Made more for the day than I was scheduled to do and didn't have to say V1. I am not bragging here, just saying.
A lot of people love to bash our scheduling department and what they make our pilots do. After hearing stories about other airlines scheduling departments, well we all have the same issues.
Yes, we do need improvement here, we need ALPA on property, and we must raise the bar.
However, as times are tough in this industry, it is easy to point fingers at particularly groups. We must all look in the mirror and look at ourselves first before we point the finger at others. Don't look at one particular group for the problems of this industry. Not fair or right.