Originally Posted by
DAL4EVER
Sadly, we in the U.S. don't get it. We keep reducing ourselves to the lowest common demoninator. The European carriers are mostly long haul and have established themselves as premier service providers that people are willing to pay top dollar for. The US carriers have cut to the bone in order to survive and have minimal infrastructure to handle the flying. Couple that with pilots who are willing to fly at JB, Skybus and Virgin America for $65-80K a year as a Captain is hurting everyone. In order to compete, everyone has to come down. This has been beaten to death over the past few years but it is our reality. The freight carriers who have a high barrier of entry don't have the competition so they are insulated from this. If we were smart, Alpa would establish apprenticeships in college and flight schools. We would educate pilots on the importance of not selling ourselves short just to take any job. Because the job we take to try to get to our dream jobs may indeed replace the dream job as they disappear.
Compare airfares with all carriers serving, lets say JFK and LHR. You will see that all airlines on this particular route are about the same in all classes of service whether the ticket is purchased at the last minute, or well in advance. You can also compare prices with online travel warehouses such as Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline... etc.
A number of European carriers are short haul and home based with very decent wages.
Lets not forget the pilots of legacy carriers who accepted deep pay cuts along with the pilots of VA, SB and JB that accept low wages from the get go. Its sad that a 737 FO in Europe can earn more than a 757/767 Captain in the US.
When the open skies truly take effect look out for China. They are cornerning the freighter market with low pay too. I doubt that Brown and Purple will be able to compete with the Chinese for any length of time.
Perhaps management would stand up and take notice if all airline pilots were to unite as a whole. That's the first step to restoring self respect, worth, and value to the pilot. That's how students will learn how valuable they are.
The same goes for cabin crew too!