Originally Posted by
milky
You've got pilots that are willing to take poverty wages to do their dream job of flying a large shiny airplane. They would probably pay the company for the honor if they let them. They wh0red themselves out because they wanted to get there. They drove down pilot wages because they thought if they could just get to that big airline, they would be set. Then, the payscales dropped, but they were still more than happy to take the job. THEY SET THE MARKET PRICE FOR BEING A PILOT.
Your union can do whatever you want it to do, but they are not going to change the value of being a pilot artificially because those young 'wh0re' pilots already set the price.
Like I said, I wanted to be an airline pilot as much as any of you. I just cannot afford the pay cut.
Milky,
It's a Friday night, and I don't have the time to respond. But, you are 100% correct. Our profession is cursed because so many people have a passion to fly airplanes. I know I did. By the time I was 12, I had decided to be an airline pilot. I did what it took, and here I am flying Captain for the world's largest airline.
As a result, management doesn't set pay to attract talent, the talent shows up and will work for (almost) whatever is offered. Thats what makes this particular profession so unique, and its also what will keep us from ever seeing decent wages again. We could delay this transition if we had a true national union, but the end result is a given.
Pay will keep dropping until people stop applying OR regional jets start crashing; and I suspect that's gonna be a long while before either of those happen.
Just wanted to let you know there are those out here who recognize the validity of your statements.
PG