Originally Posted by MasterOfPuppets

Ben

I'm going to start out by telling you that I am a new hire and had no vote on the contract or the SLI.

I worked my ass off to get into this industry. I looked up to mainline pilots as heroes. I looked up every time an aircraft flew over. The glory of flying around the world is strong with me and that passion will never die. Do I get upset sometimes? yes. do I follow my contract to the letter? yes. Do I get things fixed that the MEL says are ok to fly with? yes if I feel I need it to do my job safely.

We are all elite we all should be proud of what we have accomplished. The general public gives us no respect anymore and we are the first ones to be thrown under the bus when anything happens. So let us respect each other. How about we take one night out of our long careers and pat ourselves on the back for our accomplishments. I would love to bring my wife (kids if I had them) to the training center and show them where I work. I know my wife is proud of me but how awesome would it be to have a nice dinner and a little ceremony to show that you are part of something bigger than just flying airplanes.....you are part of a family. The first day of class at "Continental" my brass was slid down the table to me in a plastic bag, at least the wings were on paper with my name on it. Just because we are already here and we didn't get the ceremony doesn't mean we have pee in everyones cheerios.

The only way to fix this culture is to create a new culture with the best from both worlds and something new. As a new hire and a long career ahead of me I have taken this mission upon myself. I am helping to create a great environment that I am proud to work in and others will want to join, with you (ben) being 35 years old I promise you you will see it and I hope you become a part of it. The new hires are a good group and are excited the CO guys have seen this and the UA guys will see it soon with 320 and 76T new hires. A culture change is coming to both sides of the fence and you can either embrace it or be an outcast.

I proudly walk through the airport as a professional and I smile at my family as they walk bye ( FAs, Agents, Rampers, Mechanics). I fly the plane as smoothly as I can and look for the good ride even if that means flying at 29,000 FT. I use DES NOW to start a more gradual descent instead of hitting the TOD and pitching over to 2500 FT/min. I have flown with your types Ben, the I just do my job and go home. Most of them think they are saving the company money by not caring about the passengers comfort. But Ill tell you what, making people have to clear their ears every 30 secs by falling out of the sky is not helping the company. People only remember the bad they never remember the good so don't give them anything to remember.

I hope for your sake Ben that you calm down and take a break and reflect on what a great world we live in and what a great life we truly have, you live in GUM for christ sake! next time your at cruise making $120 an hour on you're way to NRT remember your reading a news paper not stuck at a computer.

Good luck Ben your going to need it