Ted Stevens and Bypass

ppragman

FLIPY FLAPS!
Well, for all you freight dawgs out there, ya'll better tune in to the Alaska senate race. Its only 1% away, and there are still 60k votes to count. If Stevens loses to Begich, the bypass mail routes will come up for open bid again and bush aviation will go through the roof again. Get ready to be flying CASAs and 1900s into St. Maries and more. The post office doesn't exactly like the current choices of NAC, Lynden, Everts and Alaska Airlines as the only bypass mail outlets, companies like my old company (ACE, where I'll probably return at 23) and Hageland and more will go through the roof! Get ready for some badass flying jobs to open up if he gets in. Its gonna be good.
 
A convicted felon for a senator and a governor who doesn't know whether Africa is a country or a continent? I say we just give Todd Palin his wish and let them secede.
 
A convicted felon for a senator and a governor who doesn't know whether Africa is a country or a continent? I say we just give Todd Palin his wish and let them secede.

I'm not going to defend us. There's no use anymore.
 
Shouldn't surprise you, in Missouri dead people can win.
I was sitting in a government class in high school back in the winter of 2000 when we were reviewing who won what. A dead guy won back then somewhere and my teacher summed it up quite nicely.

"When you lose to a dead man, it's time to hit the bottle."

-mini
 
Trivia question...
Who lost to "that dead guy"?
He lost the election but still made a pretty big impact in Washington.
 
Trivia question...
Who lost to "that dead guy"?
He lost the election but still made a pretty big impact in Washington.


I believe you're referring to former U.S Attorney General John Ashcroft. And for the extra point, I'll guess that the "big impact" was helping to pass the Patriot Act.
 
Get ready for some badass flying jobs to open up if he gets in. Its gonna be good.

So what you are saying is that you will have airlines undercutting each other, bidding the lowest possible price to haul mail in a cake government contract.

Who do you think they are going to pass the undercutting costs to?

I want the jobs to stay at Alaska Airlines, not a mom and pop operation running a beat up 1900.
 
So what you are saying is that you will have airlines undercutting each other, bidding the lowest possible price to haul mail in a cake government contract.

Who do you think they are going to pass the undercutting costs to?

I want the jobs to stay at Alaska Airlines, not a mom and pop operation running a beat up 1900.

No, what I'm saying is that the contracts will be open to bid rather than just in the hands of a few companies, which are just as corrupt and pay less in some cases than their 135 counter parts.

As for "mom and pop operation running a beat up 1900" get a grip. These companies are multi million dollar operations providing a service to thousands of people who would die without them. Do you know who got hurt most by the bypass drying up? The natives who live in all of the villages surrounding the hubs. Costs went way up for them, and essentials were more expensive to bring in even with EAS. As far as beat up, ACE had the best maintenance I'd ever seen, with exceedingly advanced equipment for Alaska (Garmin 430/530 with LPV and Bara VNAV capabilities). Mom and pop is far from it. Hell, we carried over 1,000,000 pounds of freight out of Dutch Harbor alone in the last quarter of 2007. This is big business. Pilots make excellent wages, and have decent quality of life up here. Hageland can pay $400 - $500 per day to fly beech 1900s. Those aren't piss poor wages. In fact, at $400/hr at 15 days per month is $6000, that doesn't even count the hourly wage on top of the pay. $6000 per month = $72,000 per year, and you only work half the month. Don't think I can complain.

NAC, Everts, and Alaska have screwed the post office repeatedly up here when it comes to mail. They don't offer decent service, they aren't reliable, and they don't represent the reality of the situation. The mail contract cronyism was bad for pilots up here as well. When all of the guys were furloughed or lost their jobs after the business dried up wages actually went down.
 
I want the jobs to stay at Alaska Airlines, not a mom and pop operation running a beat up 1900.

I'll never get used to this mindset. I'm all for trade unionism, but the fanatics always wind up spoiling it for everyone else. Do you want any competition at all? How small is "too small" for a 737? I fly a dinky little beat up turboprop for a "mom n pop" 135. I also work less and make more than any regional FO I've ever known. Competition works.
 
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