Influencers are destroying aviation

SkĂĄning said:
When regionals paid poverty wages, they still filled seats. Nobody had staffing issues.

So today, when new hires make $100k, the barrier to entry is even lower.

It’s the “look at me” in your face stuff that is cringy from someone who’s been in the industry 15 minutes.
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Yeah last year, had to tell an Envoy CKA (who was under 30 and flowed that month with a 100k bonus just to show up) to not brag about making 50k last month to the former TWA Captain who upgraded only a few years ago after losing 10+ years of seniority and is retiring next year

…the confusion on his face said everything
 
CFIT99 said:
Yeah last year, had to tell an Envoy CKA (who was under 30 and flowed that month with a 100k bonus just to show up) to not brag about making 50k last month to the former TWA Captain who upgraded only a few years ago after losing 10+ years of seniority and is retiring next year

…the confusion on his face said everything
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Of course, that might have been fun to break out the popcorn and witness, had you not warned him….. :)
 
MikeD said:
Of course, that might have been fun to break out the popcorn and witness, had you not warned him….. :)
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Oh it crossed my mind…but the Captain was an awesome guy and I felt didn’t need to deal with it based on the sh*t he had to deal with.

That envoy pilot probably found them self on the end of a long “f**ck off” rant by other captains
 
CFIT99 said:
Yeah last year, had to tell an Envoy CKA (who was under 30 and flowed that month with a 100k bonus just to show up) to not brag about making 50k last month to the former TWA Captain who upgraded only a few years ago after losing 10+ years of seniority and is retiring next year

…the confusion on his face said everything
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Flew with a 28 yr old FO. From CA.


Aug anniversary of the Cerritos midair , I mentioned it’s been 37 yrs and we got TCAS out of it. He had no clue. I asked him about PSA 182. Nothing. PSA flight, a BAE from LA to SF where a fired employee murdered the flight crew and then crashed the plane. Nothing.

I mean, from CA. A whole new generation coming through that isn’t really up to date/speed on past aviation history. Clueless.


And I also think that some of these folks in their 20s and 30s making 200k+ at majors would not be able to handle a furlough. That kinda hiccup has not happened and they wouldn’t be able to deal with it.
 
Cherokee_Cruiser said:
And I also think that some of these folks in their 20s and 30s making 200k+ at majors would not be able to handle a furlough. That kinda hiccup has not happened and they wouldn’t be able to deal with it.
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I just flew with an RO last night that fit this description, except he came from an aviation family and he'd see that mess first hand growing up when his dad lost his pension and then later one when his two older brothers both got furloughed at various time. He was telling some stories about his classmates and peers who have so far lived a golden aviation life, and how upset they were over absolutely silly things like not getting the base they wanted and having to commute for a year, or not getting a widebody out of new hire training.
 
BobDDuck said:
I just flew with an RO last night that fit this description, except he came from an aviation family and he'd see that mess first hand growing up when his dad lost his pension and then later one when his two older brothers both got furloughed at various time. He was telling some stories about his classmates and peers who have so far lived a golden aviation life, and how upset they were over absolutely silly things like not getting the base they wanted and having to commute for a year, or not getting a widebody out of new hire training.
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This is why JC has been such a huge resource for me. I didn’t get into the airline game till 2017 (unless you count a touch and go at Airnet in 2007-8), but I’ve been reading about all this stuff since 2005. It’s not just the kids who are clueless - plenty of my military bro comrades don’t have a clue either.
 
Cherokee_Cruiser said:
Flew with a 28 yr old FO. From CA.


Aug anniversary of the Cerritos midair , I mentioned it’s been 37 yrs and we got TCAS out of it. He had no clue. I asked him about PSA 182. Nothing. PSA flight, a BAE from LA to SF where a fired employee murdered the flight crew and then crashed the plane. Nothing.

I mean, from CA. A whole new generation coming through that isn’t really up to date/speed on past aviation history. Clueless.


And I also think that some of these folks in their 20s and 30s making 200k+ at majors would not be able to handle a furlough. That kinda hiccup has not happened and they wouldn’t be able to deal with it.
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You'd be surprised how many people with careers in aviation know very little about it. One year I was in the SFO tower cab taking pics on 9/11 and all the controllers dogpiled a new guy (new to the tower, but he was in his 30s) because he didn't know about UA93 or AA77...and he was from Baltimore. "I guess I knew a plane hit the Pentagon but it never really crossed my mind that, yeah, it had to be a 3rd plane". I guess anything is possible.
 
Ian_J said:
This is why JC has been such a huge resource for me. I didn’t get into the airline game till 2017 (unless you count a touch and go at Airnet in 2007-8), but I’ve been reading about all this stuff since 2005. It’s not just the kids who are clueless - plenty of my military bro comrades don’t have a clue either.
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You've touched something here that I think is worth exploring a little more....I've had the benefit of history lessons from this very site since 2005 (I think I started reading here right around then, and signed up for an account shortly after) and it has allowed me to avoid some landmines among my peers. I probably never would have read "Flying The Line" if @Seggy hadn't been such a proponent of it, for example.

But more importantly, I definitely have an appreciation for how good I have it as a regional pilot at a 'lower-tier' (which is funny to write) company where, even though we are the lowest-paid among the FFDs/WOs right now, I still make 3-4x what many of you made a dozen years ago. I have Part 117 protections that many of you didn't....these are just small examples of how things have changed. Buddha knows I *wanted* to fly a clapped out Baron late at night and haul checks, but that job died before I was ready. And if things in this industry hadn't changed so radically in the last 24 months, I never would have made the jump.

That said, it's hard to ascribe malice to ignorance. The plug in my newhire class is 23 years old. He's a super-nice kid, Riddle grad, and by all accounts a most excellent FO. I had to 'forgive' him for never having seen "Airplane" or reading "Fate Is The Hunter." More importantly, I had to remember that I was starting a second life when this kid was born, and for whatever circumstance, he hasn't been given the background of the profession that some of us have received.

Sure the information is out there, but you have to know where to find it. And you have to want to. You have to have a *reason* to. I could rant about this *specific* thing a lot more but this post is long enough.

I guess the TL;DR is that a lot of this cringey influencer stuff is a normalized variant of what they've grown up with. I think many of them don't get that it's weird and cringey because they've not been mentored as such.
 
That all said, we tend to immortalize the 23 year old magenta line kids of privilege because they are super easy to make fun of. The 20 something “8-ball” from my new hire class is awesome and I go to him for 787 advice. And I just flew as an IRO with a 25 year old new hire flying for consolidation who was a great pilot and just very well rounded.
 
There is a pretty good facebook page called "Raising Aviation Teens". A bunch of soccer mom's who's kids want to be pilots and have no idea. There are quite a few airline pilots on there that have been in the biz a long time that try to explain the past but it seems like the main topic is what college is best for jonnie to go to so he can be an airline pilot. I enjoy being the grumpy old grandpa on the page.
 
killbilly said:
You've touched something here that I think is worth exploring a little more....I've had the benefit of history lessons from this very site since 2005 (I think I started reading here right around then, and signed up for an account shortly after) and it has allowed me to avoid some landmines among my peers. I probably never would have read "Flying The Line" if @Seggy hadn't been such a proponent of it, for example.

But more importantly, I definitely have an appreciation for how good I have it as a regional pilot at a 'lower-tier' (which is funny to write) company where, even though we are the lowest-paid among the FFDs/WOs right now, I still make 3-4x what many of you made a dozen years ago. I have Part 117 protections that many of you didn't....these are just small examples of how things have changed. Buddha knows I *wanted* to fly a clapped out Baron late at night and haul checks, but that job died before I was ready. And if things in this industry hadn't changed so radically in the last 24 months, I never would have made the jump.

That said, it's hard to ascribe malice to ignorance. The plug in my newhire class is 23 years old. He's a super-nice kid, Riddle grad, and by all accounts a most excellent FO. I had to 'forgive' him for never having seen "Airplane" or reading "Fate Is The Hunter." More importantly, I had to remember that I was starting a second life when this kid was born, and for whatever circumstance, he hasn't been given the background of the profession that some of us have received.

Sure the information is out there, but you have to know where to find it. And you have to want to. You have to have a *reason* to. I could rant about this *specific* thing a lot more but this post is long enough.

I guess the TL;DR is that a lot of this cringey influencer stuff is a normalized variant of what they've grown up with. I think many of them don't get that it's weird and cringey because they've not been mentored as such.
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My disappointment is with those that don’t want to know, think everything’s is puppy dogs and sunshine and dismiss those that have seen the downsides. Seeing a 23 year old at my shop is awesome. I’d kill to be in my position, let alone theirs.
 
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