Originally Posted by
Armyguy
Here is the problem:
your great day as a NB CA is on a holiday, say 4th of July while my lousy NB FO day is on a Tuesday. Bidding upper third of a bid status is very nice.
I love hearing CA's I fly with complain about their schedule "I have worked 12 straight Thanksgivings", you do that crap to yourself
Nobody, I mean literally nobody, in your personal life gives a crap if you are a CA at AA, they just want you to be present in their lives. Whether that is children, parents, siblings, friends, etc. They know I am a pilot, they know I work for AA but they dont care I am not a CA. How stupid. Now, when I fly with the newly upgraded Airbus guy on the 737 who says we need a gen dec for puerto rico or argue with me over what the door code is to get in ("I called maintenance since we are locked out of the cockpit"" then I question my sanity for not upgrading however 99.9% of CA's are great so those days are few and far between.
A bit overreaching, isn't that? I doubt you know his schedule, his family life etc.
I don't know aa73 personally, but have kept up through social media. I feel very confident in saying that being a CA is important to him personally has nothing to do with what anyone else thinks.
From a recent thread, I think that I share more with him than you...but do you know what? That's okay, because we are all different and the best place to work would be the one that allows the flexibility for each to seek that out.
In my "Jet" career I have been a F/E, F/O on many aircraft, F/B (or whatever AA calls it), and CA on 5 types, currently CKP. I've enjoyed aspects of all them, but did not like the "deadheading for dollars" across the Atlantic. I do not subscribe to the theory of "do something you love and you will never work a day in your life" bit. I grew up around the industry, still love it, love to fly, but I work. A lot. Too much, and that is changing.
The one thing I agree with is that family comes first. But coming first doesn't mean exclusive. My kids knew that if all possible Dad would be there, but Dad had to work. I worked and planned to be there as much as possible and they will tell you that I was there far more than there peer's parents were, but not all the time. And that the world doesn't revolve around you is an important lesson.
One thing is for sure-If person doesn't want to be a CA, they shouldn't be. They won't be good at it, and should stay in the other seats. I've seen quite a few of those that decided to make the move late, for the wrong reasons and it didn't go well.
I can't understand why someone would not want to be a CA. Not at any cost, but the goal. I guess AA73 and I are just wired that way.