I like how all you guys argue about contracts as if the survival of the company is dependent only on pilot contract and pay. There are so many other variables to consider. How about the cost of management, for one? How much money would SkyWest and XJT collectively save by having one management group? No, we don't talk about that though. We choose to argue about whether or not the small dollar differences in pay and other BS will sink the company like the Titanic.

Wanna know what I think? I think anyone on the labor side of the fence who thinks one of their coworkers is "too expensive" should be shot. That's why this industry has gone nowhere but she sh*tter for the longest time, because we have too many sallies who are willing to bend over and take it time and time again in order to salvage managements cluster you-know-what. This profession will not improve if there are an abundance of people who think like that.

Wanna know what else I think? I think as long as I'm on duty, I should be getting my hourly wage. What an idea - Getting paid for the entire time you're at work. That's what happened when I was working at a local grocery store for 5 years (I did plenty of sitting around there too), while I was doing other side jobs as a CFI, and not to mention it's what a majority of the rest of the world does! But that could never happen at an airline though, because pilots in general are the best at being brainwashed by management's BS. "We can't afford to do that...See, GoJets can get away with that because they make 2 dollars less an hour than you do...blah blah blah." Kiss my a$$!

Part of the reason I came to ExpressJet was because their pay and work rules seemed to be equal to, if not better than the regional industry average. I fully realized when I came here that there's a strong possibility that I could be here for much longer than I expected (we already have enough 6-7 year FOs on property...) so while we're stuck here we need to keep all we can, not give away that we have in an effort to "stay competitive", because there is a chance we could be stuck here for the rest of our careers! Plus, anybody who thinks they are going to be getting anything back from management because they took concessions is a moron.

As far as reaching for the moon - It's what you do during any contract negotiation. Have any of you guys ever seen an episode of Pawn Stars? You go into the negotiation asking much more than what you really want. You fight for it as hard as you can, and then when you get a counter offer that isn't exactly what you asked for (except it's much better than the minimum of what you were going to accept), you shake hands and the deal is done.

Plus, The ERJ guys are ALREADY WORKING UNDER A CONCESSIONARY CONTRACT. Do any of you people really think we're going to sign off on anything that isn't better than what we already have?

End rant...I know I'm just a noob at this 121 thing...haven't even been at the company for a year, probably won't be eligible to vote on the TA, but I know enough about life in general that when I see a bunch of people cowering in fear over whether or not they should fight for QOL improvements in order to save the company it makes me want to absolutely puke. Grow some balls people.