Originally Posted by
FreqFlyer
You ever stop and think for a minute…that maybe it’s just you?
That’s not my experience, or the experience of anyone else at this pilot group. The fact that you can sit here and honestly say that kind of stuff about your fellow pilot group is lowly and pathetic. How about you get lost already, we’d all be better off without you a part of the group.
All of our pilots matter and no one should leave. They can choose to of course but we need to stop thinking this way.
I was hired in early 2018 and the Blackout Betty fallout had just begun. I flew with a lot of captains that “won’t talk to the FAs.” In many cases I had to act as an intermediary between the captain and the FAs. Lots and lots of examples of very socially awkward moments. A lot of my relatives are from the PNW so I understand how introverted and weird people from the area can be. It’s definitely reflected in our pilot group. It’s not such a bad thing but I feel like the expectation that fun is to be had on the road at Alaska isn’t necessarily a good one to have.
I also sorted through the SEA open flying lines for November 7 of 65 lines didn’t have a red eye. Run a reserve roster report. See how hard the jr people are working. I can’t blame them for leaving. I wish they wouldn’t. We must as an organization get away from “I had to suffer so you should too.” With the hiring options available we can’t run this way. Not anymore.
IMO PBS will be a disaster. It will allow an average line value of 85+2 and the TLV is 83. So if you’re in the bottom 50% you’re going to get unstacked. What’s going to get pushed onto your line as a junior pilot FAI and ANC red eye turns. So a lot of senior FOs will upgrade on the next bid expecting a great quality of life that they are already used to. Now they will be super upset and they will take it out on their JR FO… Perpetuating the vicious cycle
The money is good. It’s a stable job. The people are really nice but sometimes a little weird if you’re from a more social place like California. What we need to focus on is creating a culture that will treat new hires well. So they stick around. Not expect them to commute to red eye reserve where they are working over the guarantee and it’s going to take years to fly during the day and not commute. We should also honor commuters too. We largely don’t but it has improved since I started here. I’m not a commuter. However, I’d like to address the realities of the pilot market and see this airline grow. There is a lot of potential. But the first thing all of us need to stop is telling people to leave.