Trip7
Well-Known Member
Man...it's raining hard in ATL tonite. Excuse me while I go list for a non-rev trip to a another family member's birthday party I'm supposed to always be missing due to my career.
Retired NWA pilot sums it up.
- Thread starter Socal321
- Start date
Man...it's raining hard in ATL tonite. Excuse me while I go list for a non-rev trip to a another family member's birthday party I'm supposed to always be missing due to my career.
kellwolf
Piece of Trash
Count your blessings, Marcus. Not everyone is as lucky. That's all I'm saying. I can't seem to by a day off if it's on Sat, Sun or major function during the week. If everyone's birthdays or weddings were in the middle of the week, I'd be set.
SpiceWeasel
Tre Kronor
Well... I'll trade your schedule for mine any day. Here, take my 10 days off per month and 12 hours daily of home reserve with no flying.... I guess that has its advantages, but I haven't flown in 14 days.
I'm glad you're happily taking advantage of the "benefits". Just remember, while you're rubbing your good luck in getting a decent QOL in everyones faces, what goes around comes around. Two straight months we've had a guy 20 numbers my junior get a line because of PBS limits, and two straight months I've seen "I've got a line, bitches" on FB.
Bignellyxx
Well-Known Member
This can typically be solved with a good old fashioned fight at a flag pole of choosing.
SpiceWeasel
Tre Kronor
This can typically be solved with a good old fashioned fight at a flag pole of choosing.
Heh, obviously it wouldn't really solve anything to bring violence into it, but junior folks tend to raise the ire of those who've been longer when they display far too much braggadocio.
surreal1221
Well-Known Member
Word.
"Retiring" from NWA making $93/hr sounds more like a relatively junior FO that quit.
No, the career isn't all guns and roses but if he left a job at NWA to go work at Sears, you know with all the empty stores running the 20% off sales, he needs some serious psychological help and not kudos.
If you don't want to do the career, don't, but there aren't any points at the end of the day for giving up on the challenge to regain what was lost and running off to Target to stack detergent.
Yup, the author is more than welcome to write me at doug@jetcareers.com if he thinks I'm full of poop.
Besides, my dad worked four blocks away from the house, worked weird hours and missed a lot of my band concerts, birthdays, missed some Christmases and came in for thanksgiving well after we were all asleep and it wasn't all wine, cheese and "OMGZ! Life is perfect not being an airline pilot".
A good part of the working class of America lives like that daily.
staplegun
Well-Known Member
Insight to what, in particular?
wrxpilot
New Member
Oh really? I read that same post at that forum and there was actually quite a bit of dissent.
Service manager at Sears? LOL, whatever... The most bitter aviation people I've encountered have never worked a job outside aviation. I have worked in the corporate office environment, and let me tell you - the quality of life ain't all it seems. 60 hr work weeks, tied to a blackberry, two weeks of vacation a year that are still spent typing emails and making calls to the office, monotony, ass kissing, etc. Time away from home? Yeah, that happens too. The Project Managers and Lead Engineers where I worked sometimes spent a year at the jobsite, coming home about once/month.
I've had a couple of different engineering jobs, and in one way or another the QOL was markedly worse than any of my aviation jobs so far. They paid better, but at this point not dramatically so. The certainly didn't pay better than a major airline CA salary though, that's for damn sure.
wrxpilot
New Member
The bitterness that is a former Eastern Airlines pilot.
Ever met one? They got screwed bad, nobody can deny that. But the entitlement, bitterness, anger, and jealousy displayed by some of these guys is astounding. My uncle is a CA at AA, and a few of his friends are former Eastern. They speak with so much hate that I am baffles as to why they stay in this industry...
3rd year 737 FO
2nd year A330/767-400 FO
6th year MD-90 FO
BUT! Those are blended NWA/DAL post merger rates as of 2009. Even then, sounds like an FO quit rather than retired because he's not going to have enough time to qualify for a 'retirement', quit? Yeah, but "retired", highly doubtful.
OldTownPilot
Well-Known Member
Especially anytime since Dec 07, considering nobody has 'retired' since then. Willingly quit, perhaps, but definitely not retired.
mjg407
Well-Known Member
I found this email in my archives from 2006....
A Bitter NWA Pilot Retires - to SEARS!
Well, the good news is, today I officially retire from Northwest
Airlines and I was hired last week for a Service Advisor job in the
automotive division of Sears (which is the first real job I had while
going to college and loved it and it's what I want to do in my old
age)--pay is good and it includes full medical, dental, 401k & profit
sharing--should be more than enough even without the retirement
money--may still consider the same line of work at a regular dealership
at some point, covering my six for
now-- I'll be home every night--no more check rides--no FEDS or
commuters on my jump seat taking up my office space--no more 25% PENALTY
for being legitimately sick--no more scum bag hotels--no more old bitchy
flight attendants--no more 14 hour duty days with 10 hour layovers--no
more drafting my butt downline to fly the remains of somebody else's
trip because they can't staff the airline correctly---no more zero/zero
approaches into blinding thunderstorms or blizzards--no more strip
searches at the security checkpoints by high school drop-outs (my I.D.
means nothing)--no more subway sandwiches at the airport served by by
people that can never get my order right. Can't sit down and have a hot
meal between legs at a nice restaurant cause there's not enough time--no
more missed recitals, birthdays or holidays--no more 3:30am (body clock)
wakeup calls on the east coast--no more number 20 for take off behind 18
little regional jets at LaGuardia--no more company bus rides from the
employee lot in machines, where either the rear door doesn't work or the
A.C. or heat is out of order--no more "fear and intimidation style
management" to live under.
The head honcho of the Sears store actually gave me the second and final
interview (not normal) "he actually wanted to meet me" and said I should
consider a position in management with my credentials and philosophies
about how I believe people should be treated and that he was really
happy to see someone like me consider a position with his company ..he
told me I would be an asset to any organization, unlike my current
employer, that has always "behind the scenes" regarded me and my peers
as liabilities and prima donnas...go figure!
I'm not unique. Most pilots at this point still fit the same mold.
Unfortunately that mold is slowly and methodically being reshaped by
corporate robber barons into something they can shackle to a yoke and,
who they hope, will never question the methods to their madness.
The more I re-read this e-mail, the more I wonder why it has taken me so
long to come to this decision to hang up flying--oh yeh, it's cause I
couldn't touch my retirement money till now, penalty free....I'm finally
ready for the simpler life with considerably less stress. It used to be
that the airline rewarded us for all these little inconveniences we take
for granted and the time we spend away from home and family that was
part of our daily lives in this profession. We made good money, had
considerable time off and the benefits were to brag about. That is no
longer the case. My Plumber makes more a year now than I do. His labor
rate alone is $95.00/hr when he set my kitchen sink last May and he's a
high school drop out. His yearly salary is based on a 160 hour work
month (40 a
week) - My $93.00/hr and annual salary is based on an 80 hour month
(hard time in the air) with considerably more time on duty and away from
home. I suspect the New Airline Pilot of the future will probably be
one of those kids you remember in high school that got out of classes on
a 2:30pm work permit to go learn a trade because they weren't
particularly bright. Of course he'll have to be on some kind of
Government program to pay for his training.
There's no way he'll be able to come up with the $100,000.00 in flight
training costs to get his licenses, and you'll never see another
Military Pilot leave the armed forces for an Air Carrier position where
it will take almost his entire career to reach the salary he left behind
at his Military job.
I would not recommend this profession anymore to anyone I really cared
about. My guess is the Airline industry will have to lower their
Standards as well as their requirements as the airplanes get more
automated (the FAA will agree) if they're gonna get any applicants. Let
the buyer beware when he takes his next airplane ride in the future. I
have absolutely no regrets about getting out while the getting is good.
I used to love my job and the adventure that every trip brought. It's
just no fun going to work anymore. It's all about quality of life
---unfortunately, you don't figure that out till you're on the back side
of the clock in most careers and in the Big Scheme of things,
approaching your own ultimate demise.
Life is really too short to devote one extra minute of your time to a
company as well as a profession that is not everything you had hoped
for.. I'm baffled trying to think of another industry that has so
brutally passed on the increased costs of doing business to their
employees rather than their customers. Even my garbage man is charging a
surcharge for fuel to me rather than rape his employees.
ps: I will forward a short movie to some of you of my Northwest Uniform
going up in smoke so no terrorist can ever use it. My Eastern Airlines
uniform and my Navy uniform still hang proudly in my closet.....
Clear Skies & Tailwinds,
CS
A Bitter NWA Pilot Retires - to SEARS!
Well, the good news is, today I officially retire from Northwest
Airlines and I was hired last week for a Service Advisor job in the
automotive division of Sears (which is the first real job I had while
going to college and loved it and it's what I want to do in my old
age)--pay is good and it includes full medical, dental, 401k & profit
sharing--should be more than enough even without the retirement
money--may still consider the same line of work at a regular dealership
at some point, covering my six for
now-- I'll be home every night--no more check rides--no FEDS or
commuters on my jump seat taking up my office space--no more 25% PENALTY
for being legitimately sick--no more scum bag hotels--no more old bitchy
flight attendants--no more 14 hour duty days with 10 hour layovers--no
more drafting my butt downline to fly the remains of somebody else's
trip because they can't staff the airline correctly---no more zero/zero
approaches into blinding thunderstorms or blizzards--no more strip
searches at the security checkpoints by high school drop-outs (my I.D.
means nothing)--no more subway sandwiches at the airport served by by
people that can never get my order right. Can't sit down and have a hot
meal between legs at a nice restaurant cause there's not enough time--no
more missed recitals, birthdays or holidays--no more 3:30am (body clock)
wakeup calls on the east coast--no more number 20 for take off behind 18
little regional jets at LaGuardia--no more company bus rides from the
employee lot in machines, where either the rear door doesn't work or the
A.C. or heat is out of order--no more "fear and intimidation style
management" to live under.
The head honcho of the Sears store actually gave me the second and final
interview (not normal) "he actually wanted to meet me" and said I should
consider a position in management with my credentials and philosophies
about how I believe people should be treated and that he was really
happy to see someone like me consider a position with his company ..he
told me I would be an asset to any organization, unlike my current
employer, that has always "behind the scenes" regarded me and my peers
as liabilities and prima donnas...go figure!
I'm not unique. Most pilots at this point still fit the same mold.
Unfortunately that mold is slowly and methodically being reshaped by
corporate robber barons into something they can shackle to a yoke and,
who they hope, will never question the methods to their madness.
The more I re-read this e-mail, the more I wonder why it has taken me so
long to come to this decision to hang up flying--oh yeh, it's cause I
couldn't touch my retirement money till now, penalty free....I'm finally
ready for the simpler life with considerably less stress. It used to be
that the airline rewarded us for all these little inconveniences we take
for granted and the time we spend away from home and family that was
part of our daily lives in this profession. We made good money, had
considerable time off and the benefits were to brag about. That is no
longer the case. My Plumber makes more a year now than I do. His labor
rate alone is $95.00/hr when he set my kitchen sink last May and he's a
high school drop out. His yearly salary is based on a 160 hour work
month (40 a
week) - My $93.00/hr and annual salary is based on an 80 hour month
(hard time in the air) with considerably more time on duty and away from
home. I suspect the New Airline Pilot of the future will probably be
one of those kids you remember in high school that got out of classes on
a 2:30pm work permit to go learn a trade because they weren't
particularly bright. Of course he'll have to be on some kind of
Government program to pay for his training.
There's no way he'll be able to come up with the $100,000.00 in flight
training costs to get his licenses, and you'll never see another
Military Pilot leave the armed forces for an Air Carrier position where
it will take almost his entire career to reach the salary he left behind
at his Military job.
I would not recommend this profession anymore to anyone I really cared
about. My guess is the Airline industry will have to lower their
Standards as well as their requirements as the airplanes get more
automated (the FAA will agree) if they're gonna get any applicants. Let
the buyer beware when he takes his next airplane ride in the future. I
have absolutely no regrets about getting out while the getting is good.
I used to love my job and the adventure that every trip brought. It's
just no fun going to work anymore. It's all about quality of life
---unfortunately, you don't figure that out till you're on the back side
of the clock in most careers and in the Big Scheme of things,
approaching your own ultimate demise.
Life is really too short to devote one extra minute of your time to a
company as well as a profession that is not everything you had hoped
for.. I'm baffled trying to think of another industry that has so
brutally passed on the increased costs of doing business to their
employees rather than their customers. Even my garbage man is charging a
surcharge for fuel to me rather than rape his employees.
ps: I will forward a short movie to some of you of my Northwest Uniform
going up in smoke so no terrorist can ever use it. My Eastern Airlines
uniform and my Navy uniform still hang proudly in my closet.....
Clear Skies & Tailwinds,
CS
Trip7
Well-Known Member
Highly doubt you'll come up with one
Whoever wrote this up had entirely too much time on their hands. And with that kinda time you think they could write something believable lmao!Similar threads
