Originally Posted by
block30
I don't know what I have the power to do.... it is the mainine pilots' decision whether to ease scope or not (in negotiations) not regional pilots, correct? So are we to avoid the regionals and apply directly to mainline? With a whole bunch of what.....piston time, freight doggin', what? At least one forum member who purports to be mainline has done the whole 'you regional guys are stealing our jobs!'. Only to later say to that a young person really ought to go to the shadiest regional with fastest upgrade time. ???
Anecdotally speaking I know of several, for lack of better term, "legacy" children (their parents fly professionally for mainline or FedEx/UPS) and guess what their career path is (each and every one in my experience)? Get to the regionals ASAP and from there make their next career move. So yeah, when I hear mainline pilots sneer at the regionals, offer no *real* solutions-just the usual disdain and hubris, I can't help but say "non-sense!". Sure pilots can avoid individual companies, but to avoid the INDUSTRY? What is the success rate? What is your proposed solution?
Finally, I am not here to argue. I like asking questions, hearing others' points of view. In my original post, I said I am willing to hear reasonable arguments about bringing flying back to mainline. My personal feeling is that the answer so oft comes back as circular reasoning; "We're gonna take the flying back to mainline....because...we are! Yeah! And flying at mainline is awesome! So we're taking it back! Regionals suck!...."
First, let me clear. My post was not intended to be divisive. It was simply intended to stir thought. Second, I am a mainline Delta pilot. But I am a product of regional flying. I came from ExpressJet. I do not, nor have I ever looked down on regional pilots. To do so would be hypocritical IMO.
Now, what I intend to do as a Mainline pilot is chew my rep's ear off by letting him know scope relief is simply unacceptable. Then I chew my CA's ear off by doing the same. I go further then just RJ's though. We need to tighten up everything to include code share, joint ventures, turbo props, geared turbo fan aircraft, etc. I'll be diligent in attending road shows once a TA is presented. I will read the TA in full, ask questions, remain educated, and vote NO to further scope relief. What I'd prefer, is to get all ALPA pilots flying back at mainline. The solution to that? I don't know. Seniority integration is the stickiest thing IMO.
What you can do, is remain educated, stay unified, & fight for the profession. Support mainline pilots in their effort to return flying to mainline. I think we all have to ask ourselves how much we are willing to sacrifice to reach that goal.