United pilot loses dream job, struggles as builder

Sad.
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I'm going to need some SpongeBob SquarePants after that one...
 
That sucks!! It just bolsters what Doug says about getting a degree especially a non-aviation degree. I really don't want to go back to working fast food all over again. Hopefully United and the industy can pull itself out of the gutter, and get these guys back to work.
 
Really sad to here that, especially when people like him get fired for doing nothing but living there dream...
 
These are bad times. Anyone here been around long enough to say whether the industry was worse around 1989-1992 when Pan Am and a few others folded?

I feel bad for this guy. He got a taste of it just as the cup was yanked from his hand. Sometimes that's worse than never getting there.
 
Truly a sad story. Glad to see that he is doing whatever he can to stay afloat.

The lesson in that article is that the potential for furlough is part of the reality of the profession that a lot of us are pursuing.

Either it's a risk you're willing to take, or it's not. Better have a contingency plan at all times.
 
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That sucks!! It just bolsters what Doug says about getting a degree especially a non-aviation degree. I really don't want to go back to working fast food all over again. Hopefully United and the industy can pull itself out of the gutter, and get these guys back to work.

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Isn't that the truth. I have been told countless times to get marketable and/or a degree in something other than aviation, therefore I am busting my butt in Information Technology. Plan to continue training with ATP, then hopefully some air carrier will notice my resume. I'm like Deion Sanders now, flying is just a hobby LOL.
 
Man I feel for that guy.

I know how it feels to be living a dream and have it suddenly yanked out from under you.

As I was reading this article this question came to mind:

It's a known fact (I believe) that the airlines were not doing well prior to 9/11.

It cannot be disputed that 9/11 had an impact on the airlines, but recently the airlines have reported that while they're not to pre-9/11 levels passenger levels are coming back.

Am I crazy for thinking that perhaps some (I said some) of the airlines are doing normal cost cutting under the pretext of the "impact of 9/11"? (and when I say normal, I by no means intend to down play to pain etc. of lossing a job).

Later.

Naunga
 
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I'm going to need some SpongeBob SquarePants after that one...

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Doug?? You rang?
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Boy is he glad he didn't get into the trucking industry.
My father in a truck driver, and needless to say, it's not even worth the trouble. Work 80-100 hours per week to make $750 and your away from your family for at least two weeks at a time. Yeah, flipping burgers pays more.
 
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Am I crazy for thinking that perhaps some (I said some) of the airlines are doing normal cost cutting under the pretext of the "impact of 9/11"? (and when I say normal, I by no means intend to down play to pain etc. of lossing a job).

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No, you are not.

And the sad thing is, people should have seen a downturn coming. The airline industry is and always will be cyclical, and you would think the "talented" management would realize that.

So what did that "talented" management at United do when they were flush with cash? Instead of doing something smart, like retiring debt or saving it for the inevitable downturn, they pissed it away on stock buybacks (for a stock that's now worthless), trying to acquire another airline that even Warren Buffett couldn't make money on, and by starting a fractional jet scheme.

Remind me again why these folks are worth millions of dollars?

And yet, a guy who finally just got to taste his dream gets furloughed while the folks who made the management blunders get fat golden parachutes.

This story kind of reminds me of Crash Davis from Bull Durham, where he's talking about his two weeks in the bigs.

Except Crash was a fictional character, and this guy isn't. You really gotta feel for him.
 
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