Originally Posted by Southerner

I disagree. The only portion of your actual message that I disagree with is that it is “horrible here” and that people should avoid even applying to come here. That’s a matter of opinion for you, and it could have real negative impacts on someone if they chose to stay at a regional rather than come here. I don’t like the extreme negativity because I think it is an overreaction to the state of affairs here, but you are entitled to be that way.

The ONLY reason that I post to counter your comments on here is so that other people who aren’t pilots here can see that your voice isn’t the only voice. If those of us who disagree remain silent, your voice becomes the only one, and since those guys aren’t actually here, they think you’re actually the majority when you most definitely are not.

When I went back to the line I half expected to hear the same sentiments that you spout on here because it is true that an instructor doesn’t get a real picture of the line flying just round trips to Nassau from Orlando. But my experience has been instead that most FOs are very thoughtful about the conditions here, and agree more with Payne, myself, and JTrain. They see the areas that need improvement, and are cautiously optimistic that we will have a CBA within a year.

I flew with an FO who is from Venezuela, and his quote I thought was perfect. “The Pilots who are super negative here have lost perspective.” I agree with him. It is possible to want to fix the areas that need to be fixed, yet maintain a love of this company. You, me, Payne, and most others are truly more invested in this company than any executive. So I want us to succeed. We can’t succeed without a CBA, if for no other reason than pilot acquisition and retention.

I can say that if things don’t start change in 2018, people will likely start getting more negative. But it isn’t there yet, in my experience. I’ve only flown with a single FO who was super negative, and it was his first trip off of IOE. He had a good friend who agreed with you, and had filled the poor guy full of vitriol. Then he got wrapped up into an IROP, and rather than understand that IROPS at all Airlines are challenging (because he’s military and hasn’t seen another airline run) he immediately went hyper negative. (Because it confirmed his biases.) His buddy has done him a disservice. Attitudes are contagious, and that poor guy was miserable. It was sad to see, honestly.

Good luck man. I hope that a CBA makes you happy, though in my experience happiness comes from within.