Tipping the hotel van driver

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JaceTheAce said:
Driving a hotel van in snowy weather with only a high school diploma required versus flying a turboprop for 8 legs on 14 hour duty in crappy Northeast icing/turbulent weather (with all the other associated qualifications requirements)?

I think the latter is much more mentally exhausting (much more fun, but much more exhausting).
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To be fair, neither is really rocket science.
 
From 2 years ago on here:

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http://forums.jetcareers.com/airline-pilots/40132-tipping-van-driver.html
 
I got a question?
Who cares? If you tip, great. If you don't, great.

I laugh at those that say they can't afford it and then go down to the hotel bar and pay $5.50 for a beer. I also get a chuckle out of the incredibly hard working tprop FOs that think their job requires some amazing skill. Yes when you multiply it out over a year it seems like alot. Well go ahead and multiply how much you spend on alchohol a year or smokes or whatever you do that goes beyond basic human needs.
 
The point wasn't whether you drink or smoke, but the excuse that you can't afford to tip one tiny little dollar (for someone who does a good job and customarily would receive a tip for the service) then just spend like crazy on other stuff. It is your money, and you can do what you want...just don't use the "I can't afford it excuse".
 
JaceTheAce said:
Yes, but how often do the regular guests ride an airport shuttle per month?... you'd have to go down to per year, or per decade for some people.
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And this makes it okay to be a crappy tipper how, exactly? Are you arguing for a volume discount here?

JaceTheAce said:
Airline crew ride the airport shuttle about 16 round trips a month. 16 x 2 trips each overnight x 2 dollars per person = $768.

$768 per year out of a $18,000 to $34,000 yearly wage is a LOT of money.

$2 for the average joe's once a year vacation on his $18,000 to $300,000 a year wage is a drop in the bucket!

Ya gotta understand where we're comin' from, man.
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Believe me, I understand where you're coming from. Also note that my experience was before the proliferation of RJs throughout the industry, so I was speaking almost exclusively of mainline crews--who make a lot more than $18-34k and had no excuse for being cheap.

In a perfect world, hotels would include gratuities in their contract with the carriers, just as tour groups do. That way, crewmembers aren't burdened with this cost of doing business, and hotel employees aren't getting the shaft. Keep in mind that at some properties, airline crews comprise the bulk of the business. (e.g., the airport Candlewood Suites in SLC; when hiring was in full swing a few years back, literally every room in the place was taken by SkyWest trainees for months on end, and those trainees relied on the hotel shuttle for transportation everywhere.
 
aloft said:
In a perfect world, hotels would include gratuities in their contract with the carriers, just as tour groups do.
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Oh, quite agree. On the one hand it's amazing that regional airlines stiff their employees for the little things like this. But what's really amazing is that the pilots take the jobs knowing full well how they're going to be treated.
 
Boris Badenov said:
But what's really amazing is that the pilots take the jobs knowing full well how they're going to be treated.
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Well then they all should just go get jobs at a diner then...

Look, I did not have a clear picture of what woking at a regional was like until I got a job here. I read the posts, (fortunately I had JC) and knew there were certain places I did not want to work, but to be fair, everyone says the first year is not so easy. Then it's supposed to get better.
It did, for a while, then I started watching as my senority slipped backwards until I was a reserve...I have a wife who has supported me throughout this career change, but for those who have to carry their own careers down the path to their dreams, I have a question, where should all of us have gone?


Quit flying? Really?

I am getting tired of all of this, "you shouldn't have taken the job then" crap...Everyone has to pay dues, If you are first year at a major, the pay is crap too...should people not take that job until those conditions improve? What if the industry changes?

Every discussion around here has come down to...well you...or they...

There are plenty of opportunities out there still, but you have to work hard, pay your dues and work within the system that is available to us.

As I have said before, we are not in charge...none of us, from the Greatest Airline pilot in the world to the van driver. (If you are in charge and reading this, I am sorry for my blanket generalization.)

We are along for the ride, make it the best daggone ride you can...

and be kind to one another. (that includes tipping a measly dollar)
 
JaceTheAce said:
Driving a hotel van in snowy weather with only a high school diploma required versus flying a turboprop for 8 legs on 14 hour duty in crappy Northeast icing/turbulent weather (with all the other associated qualifications requirements)?

I think the latter is much more mentally exhausting (much more fun, but much more exhausting).
Click to expand...


Put the high school grad van driver through ATP and in six months he's doing the EXACT same thing you are!
 
Boris Badenov said:
Oh, quite agree. On the one hand it's amazing that regional airlines stiff their employees for the little things like this. But what's really amazing is that the pilots take the jobs knowing full well how they're going to be treated.
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Then they come on the internet and complain about it and hope the government will mandate pay raises for them and hope that the majors will give them seniority numbers at mainline because they fly the same passengers as a mainline carrier. I know, there I go generalizing again.
 
Bumblebee said:
Well then they all should just go get jobs at a diner then...

Look, I did not have a clear picture of what woking at a regional was like until I got a job here. I read the posts, (fortunately I had JC) and knew there were certain places I did not want to work, but to be fair, everyone says the first year is not so easy. Then it's supposed to get better.
It did, for a while, then I started watching as my senority slipped backwards until I was a reserve...I have a wife who has supported me throughout this career change, but for those who have to carry their own careers down the path to their dreams, I have a question, where should all of us have gone?


Quit flying? Really?

I am getting tired of all of this, "you shouldn't have taken the job then" crap...Everyone has to pay dues, If you are first year at a major, the pay is crap too...should people not take that job until those conditions improve? What if the industry changes?

Every discussion around here has come down to...well you...or they...

There are plenty of opportunities out there still, but you have to work hard, pay your dues and work within the system that is available to us.

As I have said before, we are not in charge...none of us, from the Greatest Airline pilot in the world to the van driver. (If you are in charge and reading this, I am sorry for my blanket generalization.)

We are along for the ride, make it the best daggone ride you can...

and be kind to one another. (that includes tipping a measly dollar)
Click to expand...



I think most regional pilots have the Stockholm syndrome with regards to their job.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Should we round them all up and send them to Dachau, comrade? :)
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IMO, the problem is the most pilots LOVE to fly and are so passionate about what is, when you boil it all down, just a JOB. You will never get maximum leverage and pay from management because they know that no matter how crappy they treat and pay you, you LOVE doing the basic job and will come back and do it again tomorrow because you LOVE to fly.
 
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