Dear Airlines and Unionized Pilots

But with your license you can work ANYwhere in the world.
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believe it or not, that's actually not true of U.S. pilot licenses....nor vice versa....someone outside of the US can't just come and fly for a company here and someone from here can't just go over to, say europe, and fly for a company over there. it all really depends on WHAT license you get and where from.
 
The simple fact is this:

Someday, the starry-eyed "this job is SO COOL" factor goes away. That will probably happen faster than you think it will once you get there and start doing it. That's when you'll realize that this is a job with lots of cost, risk, and responsibility, and the job deserves compensation for that.

Besides...you can't feed your family on "this is SO COOL".

So, you can't see it from where you are, so you're going to have to trust the opinions of those who ARE there and telling you how it is.

Even porn stars, rock stars, and pro athletes get sick of their jobs, too, even if they thought it was "so cool they'd do it for free" at some point in their life.
 
I agree. Pilots are very management oriented and are willing to work with management on issues. Case in point was many airlines a few years back.
If you work for a Regional making next to peanuts, what do you expect? It's a regional. My friend dropped his $70,000 a year king air job to make 25,000 a year at a regional because it's connected to Air Canada. Kind of like working for Delta Connection to eventually get into Delta. It's just a career sacrifice.

Everyone is picking on my 30,000 a year line. It's just an expression. Realistically I know I would get offered way more than that for a 777.

Westjet doesn't have a pilot union, and their pilots report the highest job satisfaction rate out of any airline in the world.

I have the deepest respect for pilots because I am safely here on the ground because throughout my life pilots have done their job well.
I hope one day I can do the same for my passengers, getting them safely from A to B. If it's a King Air or 747 it doesn't really matter.

I'm just saying that we all need to stay grounded and remember this expression; "You can't say when I grow up I want to be a pilot, because it's impossible to do both." (cool joke by a TWA captain)
 
The problem is that's not what you said in your original post. You cast a bunch of stones at airline pilots and essentially told them to stop b*tching about their pay because they should be grateful for just being able to do such a cool job.

That is the precise sentiment which most professional pilots feel is dragging the industry down the toilet.

That is the short-sighted viewpoint which rubbed so many people the wrong way.

That is the perspective that most posters here hope you lose.

Perhaps you have re-thought that perspective after reading this thread?
 
future777captain said:
Sometime in 2004 there was a Korean Air/Asiana strike. The pilots were complaining about salary. They only made $5,000 a month to start, but they wanted 8,000. I looked at my measly minimum wage teaching job with ghetto kids, and looked at the pilots with disgust. I was angry at them for living my dream and at the same time complaining that their large starting salary is not large enough. I thought about how they just don't understand how they look on the other side. Regardless to say, most people just spat on them when they marched down the street and called him 'ARISTOCRATIC COMPLAINERS.' (translated from Korean).
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Maybe you need to re-evaulate your feelings on this issue. Is it unfair that they're "living the dream" AND get paid an above average wage to do it...or do you consider it unfair because it's someone else in that position and not you? Your post shows envy more then disgust.
 
future777captain said:
I agree. Pilots are very management oriented and are willing to work with management on issues. Case in point was many airlines a few years back.
If you work for a Regional making next to peanuts, what do you expect? It's a regional. My friend dropped his $70,000 a year king air job to make 25,000 a year at a regional because it's connected to Air Canada. Kind of like working for Delta Connection to eventually get into Delta. It's just a career sacrifice.

Everyone is picking on my 30,000 a year line. It's just an expression. Realistically I know I would get offered way more than that for a 777.

Westjet doesn't have a pilot union, and their pilots report the highest job satisfaction rate out of any airline in the world.

I have the deepest respect for pilots because I am safely here on the ground because throughout my life pilots have done their job well.
I hope one day I can do the same for my passengers, getting them safely from A to B. If it's a King Air or 747 it doesn't really matter.

I'm just saying that we all need to stay grounded and remember this expression; "You can't say when I grow up I want to be a pilot, because it's impossible to do both." (cool joke by a TWA captain)
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You say that now, but give it time. More guys willing to take that big of a sacrafice because planes look cool from the other side of the airport fence and that just might be the wage of a widebody skipper.
 
I was taught by a great forum member here Foxcow :)

You should absolutely be worried about the pay and contract. As a professional pilot, it grates us the wrong way when people say they are not worried about the pay/contract and that they just want to fly. We have to take a stand because it is no fun not being able to support yourself. I can't pay bills, eat, or live by myself all at the same time. Plus if get your time up, you can go to a more reputable regional airline with better pay a better contract. Contract being the most important thing.
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mikecweb said:
You say that now, but give it time. More guys willing to take that big of a sacrafice because planes look cool from the other side of the airport fence and that just might be the wage of a widebody skipper.
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Holy Cow. . .Get this guy a BEER!

:rawk:
 
future777captain said:
Dear unionized airline pilots,

For guys who only work 85 hours a month and get all sorts of benefits and salary, you sure do whine a lot.
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:banghead: Are you kidding?

What is it that you want? I think a lot of you are bitter because you are unsatisfied with where you work. But, look again, at the guys who work the starbucks at the airport, who fuel up the plane, the ticket counter agents. Is your job so bad now?
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:banghead::banghead: Yeah, and it doesn't take 11.5 years of active duy in the USN to get a Starbucks or ramp job.

You get paid nice salaries to fly some of the finest aircraft ever produced. Isn't that why you got into flying in the first place?
But a lot of you older guys have done nothing else but fly since you were 15, so you have lost your perspective.
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:banghead::banghead::banghead: Son, your perspective is obvious.

I will be a pilot one day. If I can get even as much as $30,000 a year to captain a cutting edge aircraft, I will be grateful as anything for the opportunity to do what I have always wanted to do.
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:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

And right now, you sound like a teenage wannabe who has no concept of what you're talking about.

So, Mr. future777Capt, I suggest you heed the words of a famous American President, Abraham Lincoln (perhaps you've heard of him):

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."
 
future777captain said:
Unfortunately, after graduation, I drifted to the army, then teaching underprivelaged kids in a ghetto area of Seoul, South Korea.
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I hate it when I hear educators complain. Teachers are overpaid, you make 30+ grand and average maybe 3-4 hours of work per day over an entire school year. You get your lunch and a planning period, Spring Break, Christmas Break, 8+ weeks off in the summer. There is tenure, so you can never be fired. What an easy gig!
 
Thing is with teachers though (and I sense your sarcasm). . .

Is that they are paid for 9 months of work (or here in GA - 180 days) over a 365 day pay period.

So. . .they're not being PAID for their time off (Summers, Holidays).

Just wanted to clarify.
 
So they make 30+ grand and don't even work 1/2 of a calendar year (180/365)? Man, that makes the gig that much better! Imagine how much they would make if they worked a full year!



BTW I'm not trying to hijack the thread, I'm trying to use The Jedi Mind Trick. :)
 
Sure, they work 180 school days, 9 months. Their pay though is spread through out (in Georgia - 12 pay periods) 12 months.

But. . .of course, teachers are paid too much :rolleyes:
 
Exactly.

Suffice it to say that I am not surprised that our children disrespect teachers overall because of the wide spread knowledge that "If you don't make enough money, I don't need to respect you."

Kids get that from their parents.

But uh - oh - here I go with generalizations again.

Anyway - enough thread hi-jack, back to spreading the informational education towards the fine individual who made the original post.
 
surreal1221 said:
Sure, they work 180 school days, 9 months. Their pay though is spread through out (in Georgia - 12 pay periods) 12 months.

But. . .of course, teachers are paid too much :rolleyes:
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I'm pretty sure that GA teachers are able to pick whether they want to get paid over 12 months or 9 months. Still the same amount of money, but different pay schedule.

I agree with Obama: teachers that get their Masters should be able to make $100k by the end of their careers. As it stands in GA now, a teacher can barely break $60k by the end of their career with a PHD.
 
PCL_128 said:
I'm pretty sure that GA teachers are able to pick whether they want to get paid over 12 months or 9 months. Still the same amount of money, but different pay schedule.
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Correct, my wife verified this.

Nevertheless, it's still only 180 days worth of pay.
 
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