Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
Why do we have Doctors? Why do we have added requirements to be members of the Bar? Nurse Practitioners, in my experience, are better diagnosticians because they take more time with "their patient." Lawyers used to have no entry requirements other than Bar Exam passage.
Could a CRJ Captain out fly a WWII Cadet? It isn't truly a valid point. Many WWII Cadets were unable to find jobs in aviation due to their lack of education.
Restrictions which limit the pool of qualified applicants result in less supply, which drives up demand and prices. While a Nurse Practitioner is worth $75K to $90K (around here) Doctors routinely earn $125K to $250 for the same skill set. If the Doctor further specializes into something highly technical, like anesthesiology, they can be worth $350K to $500K.
Could you or I do that job with a good database and some decent technical training? Sure. But, is that how the World works?
Where I come from a $180,000 a year job is still a big deal. It is worth the effort to prepare oneself for that opportunity. As professionals, one path to increase pay is to increase the minimum entry requirements. Management wants to lower costs and lower the standards to hold this position. They would hire $10 an hour rampers to fly airplanes, if they could. ALPA harmed this profession with the Pinnacle Bridge Agreement. Lee Moak (although I admire much of what he has done) and Capt. Wychor worked to lower standards in this profession.
and if you think I'm wrong, Southwest is an excellent airline.
If the degree was/is so important then why are those pilots without a degree allowed to keep their jobs during a merger or acquisition? I know, just a weeding tool for hiring pilots but still makes you wonder about standards and fairness in the system.
Some have negative feelings about a flow ok, but shouldn't agreements be honored? Mesaba Airlines had a flow agreement with NWA. Why wasn't ALL Mesaba pilots on property after the DAL NWA merger was complete allowed to flow to DAL. Only a small percentage were allowed. Wonder what would happen if DAL only allowed a small percentage of NWA pilots to keep their jobs at DAL or not honor their agreement. How does Lee Moak face the Mesaba pilots and explain why he chose not to fight DAL to honor their agreement all the while professing unity? Double standards maybe or more unity for mainline pilots?
Pinnacle/Endeavor Airlines did not need to be in bankruptcy except DAL wanted it to be. I agree with some of your statements BB but history has also demonstrated the playing field IS NOT level for regional pilots. When regional pilots try to seek or gain opportunities in bad situations you get chastised rather then equal and fair treatment. It was probably wrong and inappropriate if there was a secret back door agreement that DALPA was not informed or kept out of the loop but then how much effort would PNCL pilots get from DALPA if the company was liquidated? It was your airline that wanted PNCL in bankruptcy but I doubt if anyone at Delta would care much if everyone at the time lost their jobs at PNCL but hay at least you would have your sacred hiring standards intact that I am sure every DAL pilot on property now has been through.