Originally Posted by Poundstone
After my two previous posts, I came upon a New York Times article from March 10 that had some interesting quotes in support of my case. Take a look at these:
1. "It's hard for me to feel sorry for them (pilots)," said Capt. Jeffrey R. Hefner, the safety chairman of the union that represents pilots at Southwest Airlines, who have always flown longer hours than pilots at older airlines.
"They're a bunch of spoiled brats," he said. "Historically, this has been a really cushy job once you get to the majors. You make a lot of money and you don't have to fly a lot. But there had to be a market balancing at some point."
2. The dissatisfaction at the top has not changed some basics of the field: young people still dream of flying, and people who fly small planes still aspire to fly bigger ones. Legions of laid-off pilots hope to be hired back, even at reduced pay levels.
"They must love it," said Arnold I. Barnett, a professor of management science at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
1. Capt. Hefner and his union immediately disavowed that quote as a reporter's fabrication, but it is true that lots of people feel that way, including many pilots.
2. This is why Dave Behncke founded ALPA. If no qualified pilots were willing to work for low wages under unsafe conditions, a union would not have been necessary. He envisioned a nationwide union of ALL airline pilots, but it never happened. Too bad, because it is not in the public interest to have airplanes crewed by the hungriest people who can pass a check ride, and that's where we appear to be heading.
I recommend "Flying the Line" by George E. Hopkins