Originally Posted by
ProPilotBlue
Meh. I don't have much of a problem with this program, mostly because I know that most people, myself included, would have taken advantage of something like this if it existed 16 years ago. I paid $80,000 in the early 2000s for my commercial, CFIs, etc. According to the Google, that's about $110,000 in today's money. Sure, I instructed, then went to a regional and paid my dues for way way way too long, and I finally got here.
If I could have paid like $90,000 (in 2003 money) and gotten on at a company like JetBlue in 2006 or 2007 instead of 2018...do the math, that would have increased my lifetime earnings by a metric #*#* ton of money.
I guess my point is, don't fault a guy for taking advantage of programs that exist now that didn't exist when we were brand new. The industry has changed, and they are simply doing what is best for their careers. It's unfair to expect someone to cost themselves seniority and lifetime earnings simply because we had to struggle more, and we feel like they should have to struggle too. Life ain't fair.
It’s human nature to expect people to pay their dues. Many of us came up in the early 90s in which pay for training (yep, you paid your employer), time building schemes (pay to fly right seat in a Navajo on a revenue flight), and training contracts were the norm. I started flying in 89 so the last 30 years have been quite a ride. There’s a great article in the March issue of Professional Pilot Magazine that lays out where we were and where we are now. More aptly entitled, “Show me the Money” if you ask me.
That being said, I’ve psychologically come to grips with it is what it is. I spent nearly 3000 hrs doing primary flight instruction. I’ve freight dogged single pilot loaded with ice at 3am over Lake Erie. Done the fracs. The regionals. Twice. Congrats to anyone that gets the career boost. I Just don’t expect someone to look left and whine about having to CFI for 300 hours, or bemoan the fact that after two years they’re not an Airbus CA despite the largest thing flown being a Piper Seneca. Attitude is going to be everything in how this is received. If you’re in this program the learning should (will?) continue for years on the line.