Originally Posted by
Joe Bauers
Hold on to that perspective. It's easy to, and many guys do get cynical and jaded when you work for a company with a hostile management, as we have here at Delta today. Once that happens, then you'll lose the enjoyment of the job and, more importantly, the wonder that we get to work flying airplanes.
I've seen guys who were in my new hire class decades ago turn into real curmudgeons. The key is to enjoy the work, which for most means doing a good job for the passengers while not being naïve about the company's management.
The environment at Delta used to be very different; the CPO's office was some place that you could go to get help solving a problem, and the senior leadership was actually interested in running an airline, not milking a business for every penny. Perhaps it will be different in the future.
I don't mean to sound like I'm lecturing you, I appreciate your perspective and hope that you can hold on to it. I'm just trying to help you avoid the trap that I've seen many fall into.
It's obvious the Professor is new here. Maybe very new to the 121 world. I don't know.
I'll be your curmudgeon....
He was hired into a place where he hasn't yet experienced the true nature of this gig. Professor - this company doesn't care about you or anyone of us. Over the decades that's been proven. They'll toss you out on the street without after thought. You should always be skeptical. You were hired in here after 3 contracts that we fought hard to claw back what we lost in the bankruptcy and 9/11 fallout. We've tried to help them in the past only to be stomped on by them. The only friends you have here are your fellow pilots. We're all in this together. Never, ever forget that.
I get what you're saying. No one here has said to do anything otherwise that would be "mean" to the people who pay our wages. We don't do that. However, we also don't roll over for management. There are "nice to do things" and "must do things". "Must do" are pretty straight forward. Your job, safely operate the aircraft in a nutshell. The "nice to do things" are subjective. Being a decent human is always a win for us. The company doesn't need to tell us that, it's just who we are as a group. Now, HVC cards, galley PA's, sticking around saying good byes until the last pax is off the plane etc and all the other stuff management wants us to do is not in the category of "nice to do things". It's fluff. They talk out of both sides of their mouths. You'll figure that out after a few more years here. If management wants us to do the things they want, then they need to reciprocate and treat us like the assets we are, not the enemy.
I agree with Joe. The CPO used to be a place you could get help. Now, it's der commissar. It's the worse I've seen it in all my years here.