Originally Posted by
9easy
Everyone has to make the best choice for themselves and their family... however, at the risk of sounding koolaid, I think some of the doom and gloom is overblown.
1. Eventually there will be a new contract. It may not be the Delta contract, but it will be an improvement in pay and time off
2. The MD80s will eventually be gone. Probably sooner than later once the A320NEOs start hitting the street and airlines trade up
3. The company prints money, and the potential markets where the business model works is huge
4. Home every night, sleeping in your own bed, eating your own food, in the same time zone, and seeing you family is hard to quantify in value, but for a lot of people it's priceless
5. Most people bailing from G4 are going to AA or WN. The same thing happens at Jetblue and Spirit
6. MX is still better than almost any regional airline, especially the ones who use contract mx. An issue is the JT8D can't be treated like a CRJ or ERJ engine. And the expense of maintaining them in the way it would take to improve things is counterbalanced by their relatively short remaining life
1. Yes, there will be a contract eventually. Having the company actually FOLLOW what's in the contract is the issue. Just look at the work rules that both sides agreed to and see how much they are worth. Yes, a contract will have a grievance process that the work rules do not, but do you think they will really care about violating the work rules?
2. Look at the 320's they are buying now, they are all pretty old. How much life is left in them? 5 years, maybe a little more? Then what happens? During the time I was on the Bus, maintenance wasn't as bad as the 80, but it was starting to go downhilll when I left.
3. Yes, the are making money, but where does it all go? Not to the operation, that's for sure. To me, that is an unsustainable business model.
4. Most people are home every night, except people in the TDY base, those that break down, those in the bases with multi day trips, and anyone crazy enough to commute.
5. When I left, people were going everywhere. Don't know what's going on now.
6. I disagree. When I worked for Eagle, maintenance was pretty good. It was a lot better than while I was at Allegiant. You are right that a JT8D isn't like an engine on an ERJ or CRJ. Those engines probably get more maintenance and more time spent on them. I would argue the amount of money saved by not doing proper maintenance because of the short engine life is offset by either the const of having to change it, or the cost of continued bad press.
7. You didn't have this, but let me add something more. I will make more as a second year FO at my legacy airline than I was making as a 9th year captain at Allegiant. I also have normal health insurance, and a 16% company funded retirement. I'm also getting a lot more time off, and the best part is that time off is actually days in a row, rather than Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday.