Thread: Southern air
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Old 01-14-2019, 05:25 AM
  #53  
DC8DRIVER
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Joined APC: Apr 2007
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Originally Posted by WhipWhitaker View Post
To quote another disgruntled employee, Allegiant is hiring. Do the rest of us a favor and quit, go to your regional of choice, enjoy that bonus and quality of life. This place owns so much real estate inside you’re head it’s pathetic, it’s just a job. I’ll be enjoying my month off...22 days more in a row than I ever got off at my regional.
Oldest and weakest retort in the book ... "why don't you just quit / go someplace else?"

Some of us choose to stay and fight for a better contract. Unfortunately, there are a few entitled "pilots" who like to ride coattails. They climb on the shoulders of those who make the best parts of the job available to them so they’ll have something to crow about. No need to thank us, though (not that any thanks are expected). We understand that there will always be the 1% who do nothing to better the working conditions here and only take advantage of the efforts, sacrifices, opportunities, and successes that the group has made for your benefit.

None-the-less, you are welcome.

And on one point, you are right. This place does take up real estate in our heads as we work towards a better contract because improving the conditions here is vitally important to us just as it was to those who came before us and made the few gains that you so loudly brag about today.

One day (unless Flynn and co. decide to cash out and sell Atlas for body parts), Atlas will have a great contract. Probably not during my career here, though. But I will be able to live with myself knowing that I had some small part in making this place better for those who follow my path, just as those who came before me paid it forward so I could enjoy the few gains that exist today.

This will only be accomplished, though, by an honest understanding of where Atlas is in regards to labor relations within the industry, and where we should be.

So when guys come on line and brag about how good Atlas is in relation to anything other than our industry peers is counterproductive to everyone - including yourself, whether or not you even realize it - because no gains have ever been made by pilots who look backwards at their entry level jobs as a measure of where they should be today or tomorrow.

Like most pilots, my first job in aviation involved working with no insurance, no retirement, no benefits, no job protections, no pay protections, under hazardous conditions at all hours of the day and night with no provisions for rest, food, or protections from the elements. Is Atlas a step up from there? Obviously! Atlas is better by 1000%! But should I compare that lousy job to Atlas? Or should I look at an airline that has conditions that far exceed those at Atlas for guidance when it comes to working towards a better contract?

Now, don’t get me wrong; I love flying I do and the people I fly with. I have a great time when I'm at work. And a huge part of my outlook and optimism comes from knowing that I am part of the vast majority of Atlas pilots (even those who know they are here only temporarily) who have a clear view of where we Atlas pilots stand and what incredible potential there is here for a great contract. But, as Richard Bach once wrote, “You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.”

The work toward a common goal like that is rewarding in a way that you will probably never know. So keep those rose colored glasses on, keep updating your FedEx application, and try not to hinder the rest of us while we work to give you even more to brag about while you are here.

OK?
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