Originally Posted by
Grumble
Awesome! I can be a 787 captain making less than a DAL 717 FO... WITH 10 days off to sweeten the quality of life! Zero benefits, no union protection, I mean is that not a sweet deal or what? What did the previous generations work so hard for?
In the mean time I can spend all my free time trying to start up a business so that when the current job I spent 20 years trying to get into goes away! Who wants to waste all that free time with family? I'm sure my kids will totally understand. Why would anyone do something so stupid as to squander all that opportunity at home doing time wasting acitivities like t-ball games and cub scouts?
Bro, thanks for the big picture! You should be on tour with Tony Robbins, seriously.
It's called capitalism. Markets set the rate. Unions artificially inflate our wages at the major level. Look at Emirates pay, that's a pretty good judge of what market rates are. Emirates CAs make around $140k-$150k/yr on their widebodies and that is a fairly established airline, not an upstart like NAS/NAI.
I know the truth hurts but at some point we are going to have to face reality. We've been working in an environment with little outside competition unlike the rest of the citizenship. Yes, things will get worse in the future. Just take advantage of the money you are earning now and invest wisely.
I am a little upset as I've worked many years, and struggled with low pay for many years as well, to get to where I am today to "finally" start making decent money. It is what it is. You deal the hand you were dealt. Honestly I think going to SWA, jetBlue or Spirit is actually a better career choice long term than the big 3. They will grow, their brands are strong. The big 3 will most likely shrink over time, their larger legacy cost structure and management culture slowly suffocating them.
Norwegian offers a good, solid product, on new aircraft, for a good price. They are highly rated on customer review sites unlike AA, DAL, and UA. There is a reason people continue to purchase on them, and not us.