Originally Posted by
USMCFLYR
Really? You think so? I hear FI has that honor.
Absolutely. From those of us that have been following this thread since the beginning, it is quite interesting to see the downslide of attitudes from the 'wanting to get hired at their first airline' excitement and wonderment to the present attitudes displayed similar to the previous few posts.
If anything it ought to show the future hires into the industry that the shine/allure wears off quickly.
I don't know what FI is but the hostility never ceases to amaze. Newcomers tread lightly or be belittled for no apparent reason. Maybe it is just the profession in general. As for the allure, I don't disagree with all that people have said. There is much that is unfair. Many times I get frustrated. We have a lot to work on as a company. The person who is our management representative never flew the line with silver people. Our schedulers are notorious for not working within the rules of the contract. That being said, there are 2 positives.
First off, we were hired when there were no other jobs. Nobody was hiring anyone and people were even hired with less than 300 hours and think they owe the company nothing?? Think again. Get your CFI(and pass it the first time!) and work as an instructor for $15k a year to build time or build turbine multi at silver? We should all be somewhat grateful we had the opportunity to build time when there was nothing else out there. I loved instructing but this has been a great experience and resume builder. The difference now is things have changed. Every regional is hiring and all of them pay better by a large margin.
Also, I may be the only one here to admit this but I do enjoy the job. There is nothing I would rather do. I work with good people and have mostly descent trips out of my base. I just feel that everyone goes to a turboprop operator as a stepping stone to get to upgrade and build PIC. Now with the results of a staffing bid right around the corner there are likely to be 30+ people junior to me as captains? This does not bode well for employee retention.
No airline is perfect. We all want to fly a wide body for 300k a year and 20 days off a month. The road to getting the dream jobs is tough. Thankfully I actually really like my job and plan to make the best of it but unfairly treating pilots will make people quit faster than they can be replaced and that may make upgrade impossible. Time will tell but there is a lot for us all to consider in regards to our careers right now.