United pilots choose motor homes in 'LAX Ghetto' after pay cuts

Itchy said:
Do they have full hook ups?
I imagine they would get pretty toasty during the day there if not. And what about the tank full of grumpies? They HAVE to have full hook ups, right????
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They have no hookups. They use solar and propane. I imagine to empty the lavs at some point they drive to a dumping station to empty their holding tanks and fill their water tanks.
 
I know this is going to offend a few people her, but opnions are like buttholes.

It's a choice. If you choose to stay at a carrier that you have to live in a RV, then, well, thats what you chose. It's not that I don't feel bad for these guys, I do. But I don't feel bad because they are living in RV's. I feel bad because their company hasn't paid them decent enough. I feel bad because there is a line behind them if they decide to quit, of guys and gals willing to take the chance at it, and the pay just to see if they can make it. I feel bad because the industry has been so devalued because of guys doing these kinds of things, that the guy responsible for getting you your Cheerios to the supermarket is making a better living than the guy who is responsible for your grandmas life when she comes out to see you on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I also feel bad because the RLA, a law that was passed in 1926, has made it so that these guys back bones have been partially taken away from them, so they almost, almost, have no choice but to deal with it. They could walk off the job, but aviation jobs are not easy to come by right now.

But what I don't feel bad about? I don't feel bad that the 121 side of things, as a whole, and I'm talking from every carrier, won't all walk off the job togther, as in every pilot, from every carrier, to make things better for everyone in the industry. If something is going to change in the 121 side of the industry, I honestly think that that is the only thing that will work. Regan fired every controler, and it might just take that for something to change on the other side of the mic. Controlers had the balls to do it............

Edit to add: In case you weren't listening, that was kind of a rally cry.
 
I have seen people living in RV's, living in sailboats, living wherever they want to live. At the end it's their money and not mine.............
 
I cut and pasted a few segments of the article that made me think. I don't mean to just pick on the AS guys, but maybe somebody like Cheechako can shed some light on this.....

"For about 15 days a month, Alaska Airlines pilot Jim Lancaster lives in a motor home in Parking Lot B near the southernmost runway at Los Angeles International Airport.

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The 60-year-old aviator's primary residence is a cottage he shares with his wife overlooking a quiet bay off Puget Sound in Washington state. Living in Lot B while he's on duty means he doesn't have to rent a Los Angeles apartment with other pilots or spend 12 hours a day commuting to and from the Seattle area."

Captains like Lancaster have been demoted to first officer, losing hard-earned seniority and forcing them out of plum assignments at airports close to home. Lancaster, who came to LAX from Seattle about 18 months ago, estimates that his reduction in rank cost him about $30,000 a year, roughly 20% of his pay.
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Ok, so if he gets downgraded to FO wouldn't that give him more relative seniority in that seat? Why then the move to LA?

"This is the cost of being a pilot today," said Todd Swenson, 40, a first officer with Alaska Airlines. His wife, Amanda, and 2-year-old son, Noah, live in Fresno, a six-hour commute by car. "I've wanted to be a pilot all my life. It can be awful here. But I have to provide for my family, and I love flying airplanes."

Inside the Coachman, the wood paneling and storage cabinets are covered with photos of Amanda and Noah, whom Swenson returns to about 11 days a month.
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Isn't long call reserve at AS something like 11 hours? I'm sure there's some people on here that would love a 6 hour commute......
 
They should do a story on the times I slept on the floor of our crewroom under a Target fleece blanket using my leather jacket as a pillow. Or sleeping in recliners for a couple nights a month. It was hard to justify spending $75 on a hotel room when you'd get in at 0200 after summer weather delays (on a flight that was originally scheduled to get in at 1930), than have an 0700 wake up for your 0800ish departure time. Or let's do a story on the time I begged dispatch not to make us fly to IAD, since there was forecast BAD winter weather coming. Nope, don't listen to the Captain... So we land in the middle of thundersnow (blinding wet snow with much lightning and thunder), only to find the braking action to be nil. About 9 hours later, after we try, try, try, try, try to find a way to get to a hotel, we are told we'll need to sleep in the terminal. (Interestingly enough, my obsession with Chipotle saved my crew that day... I wanted to eat a burrito since I was hungry, so we were able to get through security before it closed for the night. If we hadn't, we would have been told to sleep in baggage claim... No joke.) Luckily, my FO at the time and I load up on coffee and volunteer to dig out an RJ (LITERALLY) with the help of a half dozen other pilots, and we'll fly a ferry to PIT at 0500 so we can get a hotel for ourselves and 10 other crewmembers. I'll never forget using a ladder and broom to pull huge piles of wet snow off the wings and out of the engine inlets so we could rescue our crews and get to a bed. A few crews said the heck with it, and made beds out of seat cushions and slept all night on planes, running the APU all night to stay warm.

Oh, poor guy has to sleep in an RV that he owns. Nah, let's start talking about some real issues when it comes to pilots and their rest and/or pay.
 
FlyChicaga said:
Luckily, my FO at the time and I load up on coffee and volunteer to dig out an RJ (LITERALLY) with the help of a half dozen other pilots, and we'll fly a ferry to PIT at 0500 so we can get a hotel for ourselves and 10 other crewmembers. I'll never forget using a ladder and broom to pull huge piles of wet snow off the wings and out of the engine inlets so we could rescue our crews and get to a bed.
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God bless you, you Sucker.

A few crews said the heck with it, and made beds out of seat cushions and slept all night on planes, running the APU all night to stay warm.
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More like it. Where would you be if you'd broken a leg falling off the airplane you were trying to shovel out? Would Management recognize your effort for "The Team" and out of the goodness of their (imaginary) hearts pay your medical bills, or would they discard you like the meat in the seat they always knew you to be?

Pfft. Whatever. Again, just grateful I never had to work for an Airline. By every account I've ever heard, they're the worst kind of Scum. To wit, the kind that think they aren't.
 
They guy in the other article makes 70k per year. That is almost double what I make. I don't feel sorry for him one bit. I think he likes living in the rv just singe can have half a month of man-time.
 
A motor home? That is living it up. You could always do what this guy did in the LGA shared crew room, get a tent.

Pilots are by far the cheapest people on the face of the planet.

tent in crew room wide.jpg


tent in crew room.jpg
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought RV's were pretty expensive. I am all for restoring the profession but to an average Joe who is working for minimum wage, owning an RV would mean that person is doing well for themselves. Maybe they should've used some other example like living in a pinto.
 
Those motor homes aren't cheap. My in laws have one similar to some of those in the pics. They bought it used for $85,000. Of course Id imagine many aren't nearly that expensive but some of them definitely are. I think the choice to live in one is a decision they chose based of a long term solution to save money and have privacy away from a crash pad. What should they actually tell the journalist "You know, I just hate people and love my privacy so this was the best option" or would they take the opportunity to slam their employer? There's something fishy about that article to me.
 
You can get them surprisingly inexpensively on eBay motors or even at big consignment shops like PPL motorhomes in Houston.

If I ever go back to the airlines I'll have a motorhome or trailer long before I subject myself to yet another air mattress on the floor of a 2 bedroom apartment with 17 guys living there.
 
DE727UPS said:
I thought about parking my RV there when I started doing reserve in SoCal a few years ago. It was too noisy for me so I just parked on the mean streets of El Segundo. Worked out great. Decided I needed something bigger and entered the SoCal real estate market...whooooops. Anyhow, I would bet that the folks "living" in the RV's are commuters who could either be based somewhere cheaper if they wanted or have a crash pad. I don't disagree with the premise that the industry isn't what it used to be. But to draw the conclusion that airline pilots have been "forced" into living in RV's isn't accurate, I think. The Hacienda is $65 out the door (or used to be). I mean, what if a guy chooses to live in a tent in the campground at the beach off the end of the runway? Then the LA times does a story that pilots are living in tents? I see it partly as sensationalist journalism.
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+1

trafficinsight said:
I just can't imagine that buying a motorhome would be cheaper than renting a crashpad...
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contactground.9 said:
They guy in the other article makes 70k per year. That is almost double what I make. I don't feel sorry for him one bit. I think he likes living in the rv just singe can have half a month of man-time.
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Have to agree. I know too many guys on half the money that are paying for crashpads in metro New York. They are not crazy about the crashpad, but for the most part they do not bitch about the cost.

I would bet that he could swing a crashpad, or a hotel for that matter. It is probably a combination economical and personal (Man space) choice. However, either way I don't think it is a last resort.
 
X-Forces said:
I would bet that he could swing a crashpad, or a hotel for that matter. It is probably a combination economical and personal (Man space) choice. However, either way I don't think it is a last resort.
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Probably the 3 ex-wives, the associated alimony and child support payments, and overextended lifestyle at home. :D
 
I believe the article is missing information(ie, the pilots pay). But that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because most of us are reading from a pilot's perspective. The pilot's perspective being that they choose to live in the RV and that things could be alot worse(working at a regional). However, the article does serve its purpose. Which I believe is to inform the mass public that airline workers have suffered and continue to suffer while the execs have pay raises and the industry is in the crapper.

You have to keep in mind that most of the flying public thinks every single one of you in uniform makes a gazillion dollars and has a mate in every port/layover. So if this sensational journalism gets the point across to the public that yes airline workers are worse off, Then good for it. What's the alternative? No press and a public that oblivious to the sacrifices of pilots/mechanics/FA's??? That's been going on for far too long...

Of course disregard the comments if your a UPS/Fedex pilot. Now we all know those guys are paid $10,000 an hour... JK
 
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