We all talk about food stamp wages, but this is a good read

DPApilot

DPApilot

GUYSH! GUYSH! GUYSH!
There is a new book out called, "Pilots On Food Stamps-An Inside Look At Why Your Flight Was Cancelled". It's written by a pilot that did a lot of research into this subject. It's an incredible and ACCURATE book that details exactly how much the pilots are being paid and being screwed over. Unfortunately it's all true.

If you are a regional pilot, you will probably cry when you read it. It is our life written down in black and white. It's not pretty. The book is available where ever books are sold. It's also on Amazon (printed and e-book) here: http://www.amazon.com/Pilots-Food-Stamps-Ben-Mandell-ebook/dp/B00NTPSSO8/ Pilots On Food Stamps - Kindle edition by Ben Mandell. Professional & Technical Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Please take a look at the book. And please spread the word about it to your fellow pilots and frequent flyers. The more people that know about this insanity--the better chance we have to get it stopped
 
DPApilot said:
Please take a look at the book. And please spread the word about it to your fellow pilots and frequent flyers. The more people that know about this insanity--the better chance we have to get it stopped
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As much as I'd like to share your optimism, I think it's misguided.

Sadly, the typical American has shown that he will take a giant dump on his fellow human being if it saves him a nickel or two. You hear all these people talking about how raising wages at Walmart will cause prices to spike so much that nobody will be able to shop there. You know how much it would cost Walmart to do this? So little that you wouldn't even notice.



Is it worth two cents on a box of mac and cheese for your fellow human being to be able to feed themselves and put a roof over their head? Oh, and get off public assistance, too?

For people opposed to an increase in the minimum wage, the answer is no.

It's even more so for pilots because people have in their heads the idea of a guy working ten days a month making $250K a year. And they already think that they pay "outrageous" fares. The idea of increasing a $500 ticket $10 so that pilots could get off food stamps?

They won't care.
 
I'm going to go against the norm and say that I really don't recall first year RJ pay being that terrible.

Caveats:
-I had very little debt.
-I was living in base in a city with a low cost of living.
-I had a roommate.
-I was single with no kids.

Check those boxes and it really isn't too bad. Yes, it surely could (and should) be a lot better, but I was hardly eating cheap white bread and raman noodles everyday.
 
BobDDuck said:
I'm going to go against the norm and say that I really don't recall first year RJ pay being that terrible.

Caveats:
-I had very little debt.
-I was living in base in a city with a low cost of living.
-I had a roommate.
-I was single with no kids.

Check those boxes and it really isn't too bad. Yes, it surely could (and should) be a lot better, but I was hardly eating cheap white bread and raman noodles everyday.
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My first time on first year pay, I survived by having rent that was cheaper than my crashpad and buying a midweek pass to Brighton.

I've survived the second time by having a wife that has a job that supports my hobby of being an airline pilot.

In any event, as long as you're not the sole earner in a family of four, it's doable. Insulting, but doable.
 
For those JC's that want to read the book, there is currently a free link to download the book in the lavatory. It's been there for the past month or so. If you want to buy the book then it is on Amazon and a bunch of other places that sell books.

Once you read the book and understand the book, as many have thus far, then it will become clear that paying a pilot the equivalent of 64 cents per passenger to fly an airliner (Chapter 3 in the book) when that passenger paid an average fare of $182 for their ticket just does not add up and is actually unsafe and can lead to a loss of life.

The airlines have blamed the poverty pilot pay on the passengers for demanding cheaper ticket prices. And many of you have bought into this "spin". The real numbers indicate that pilot pay has absolutely nothing to do with the ticket prices.

Once you understand that a pilot is going to be at the regional airlines for 7-9 years today and you understand that it will take that pilot 23 years to become a captain at Delta from the time the pilot starts flying passengers and getting paid for it. (Chapter 15 in the book) To that you will need to add the 6 1/2 to 8 years that it takes to get the pilot training and get hired for their first airline job. A student beginning pilot training today (2014) will not be a captain at Delta mainline until 2045. (And that is if everything goes right)

The pilots have been the scapegoats for the past 25 years. The carrots have been dangled in front of them over and over again. Read the book, get the facts and understand what is really going on here. Once everyone actually sees what is going on here, then that will help effect change because you will see how the game has been played.

There were those "experts" on this board just a few years ago that said that this industry would never get the work rules changed so pilots can actually get 8 hours of sleep. Those "experts" were wrong and did not know what they were talking about. They simply bought into the industry "spin" that has been repeated over and over again. So much so, that most pilots actually believed it.

There were those "experts" on this board just a few years ago that said the ATP requirements would never be put in place. Those same "experts" said there would never be a pilot shortage. Those "experts" were wrong and did not know what they were talking about.

So don't listen to the "experts". Get the book and check out the facts for yourself.

The changes came because of actions from OUTSIDE the industry. The industry itself could not effect these changes. This book will help effect change. It's the first time that all of this information has been put together in one place. It's clear and easy to understand.

Let's the airlines defend the positions which they 100% created. Don't do it for them. Let the airline executives defend to CNN and Congress why they pay 35% of the airline pilots in this country poverty wages that are so low that the pilots qualify for food stamps.

Joe
 
JOEFRIDAY2 said:
The reviews posted on Amazon do not appear to support your position.

Joe
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Well, that's nice and all, but specifically what do you expect the traveling public to do after they've all read a book (or any of a number of media articles...that none of them is actually going to read) ?

I've said...for decades...this isn't the public's fight. They don't care and I can't think of one frikkin' reason why they should.

This YOUR fight. It would appear at this point it isn't going to be fought. So...
 
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JOEFRIDAY2 said:
The reviews posted on Amazon do not appear to support your position.

Joe
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That's a little thing called self-selection bias. The people who choose to read your book are the people who are already predisposed to agreeing with your position. Take your book and hand it out to a random 100 person focus group, then see if they are going to go beating down the doors of their congressmen or favorite airline CEO demanding change. You're going to be disappointed.

On another note, your "the unions are useless, I can fix this myself" attitude is more than a little off-putting and narcissistic.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
What you don't get is that they don't have to defend it, because nobody except the pilots cares.
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sad but true, and unfortunately ther really isn't a way to fix it.

I don't think simply raising the fares would do it, that would create another issue. I wish there was some sort of standard pay that our unions could push for instead of facilitating the whipsaw to continue.
 
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They had four of these at Fudd Ruckers on the B terminal in DTW.
 
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ATN_Pilot said:
On another note, your "the unions are useless, I can fix this myself" attitude is more than a little off-putting and narcissistic.
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I have gone on record as saying that unions are necessary in the aviation business. Where did you get "the unions are useless" idea?

Joe
 
JOEFRIDAY2 said:
I have gone on record as saying that unions are necessary in the aviation business. Where did you get "the unions are useless" idea?

Joe
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In the other thread you stated that the unions have been completely ineffective for decades, so you're going to write a book and change the world.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
In the other thread you stated that the unions have been completely ineffective for decades, so you're going to write a book and change the world.
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That's not what I said in the other thread.

What I did say was that the unions and lawyers have not been able to negotiate a living wage for 35% of the airline pilots for the past 4 decades.

That does not make the unions ineffective.

Joe
 
JOEFRIDAY2 said:
That's not what I said in the other thread.

What I did say was that the unions and lawyers have not been able to negotiate a living wage for 35% of the airline pilots for the past 4 decades.

That does not make the unions ineffective.

Joe
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It hasn't happened partly because it isn't a priority
 
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