Originally Posted by
DublinFlyer
Oh for God's sake. I guess I'm gonna have to wake up and start typing a response here. Some of the things I have read in this thread are absolutely absurd. I like TSA pilots. I work with them, side by side in Dulles and ORD. I've had the chance to talk to them, and spend time with them, and learn about their history, and I understand their frustrations. We at Mesa have undergone similar problems in our history.
Our alterego airline was shutdown, and those pilots have NOT been forgotten. I only know a few, and one of them I respect enough because he is brutally honest about why he did it, and does not hide it, and is genuinely sorry about it. Everytime I hear a limpturd callsign on the radio, my blood just boils a little bit because that should be a waterski call sign. There are good people at TSA that have been furloughed because of GoJet.
I don't care what these people going to GoJet say. "Oh, well I am furloughed and it's the only place that's hiring." Waah, Waah, Waah. Cry me a river. So what you are saying is that you are better than another pilot, and are willing to put him on the street and support a bad cause because you are selfish? That's the way I look at it. I appreciate and understand furloughed guys (especially the major guys - although they know the game better than a lot of regional guys, and should KNOW BETTER). I know they need to get a job and get some income - but why go to GoJet when you are knowingly putting some other guys OUT of work. It's like you are stepping all over them to get a small paycheck. You'd be better off getting a local job, and you'd probably feel a lot better at the end of the day!
In this day and age, we have to support each other, and respect each other. I can't do that for GoJet pilots though, as to me, they have forgotten about the rest of their brothers and sisters at other carriers. Those people at TSA deserve some support, and they are good people. They have mine - and always will.
This is to Pause: I just can't believe you are on here trying to justify this. Most good GoJet guys just slink around and don't say anything because they KNOW they have no right. You are just acting arrogant and selfish, and are the poster boy for GoJet pilots. This is the way we feel GJ pilots are. As far as telling you face to face what I think - you bet your butt I do. I've had 3 GJ pilots try to ride with me, I've told 2 of them to take a hike, and explained why (and I'm the F/O, the captain just piped up and said "Yeah that!") and I was nice enough to let the third come with me as he was deathly ill, and I do have a heart sometimes. Although he was in the last row and was in the lav every 10 minutes - I actually felt bad for him, sort of.
You said you're a Mesa pilot?
Thank you for putting me out of work - I was an Aloha pilot. You agreed to fly for poverty rates, under ridiculous or no work rules that you've become a joke in the industry, with no retirement package, or anything of the sort; your company came to Hawaii with an explicit intent to put me and 3000 other airline employees out of work; furthermore, you would violate jumpseat protocols to assist your company in repositioning crews to Hawaii on overbooked flights by taking a jumpseat on what should have been a positive space deadhead ticket all to put me out of work...
.... and you're trying to lecture people on "defending the profession"? Wow.. if I were to apply your rationale, every pilot in this foresaken industry should banish you from their jumpseat, and shun you around airport terminals because you brought everyone down with you, and furthermore, you contributed to a destruction of a 62 year airline that was a career job for over 300+ pilots including dozens of "LAMA" pilots, so we should all hang you from the yardarm.
Fortunately for you, those of us that have been around the block kinda know better... maybe you should open your eyes and learn a thing or two as well.
People that went to GoJet, especially last year, were predominately ATA/Airtran/UAL/Champion/Midwest furloughs. I don't know of any Aloha pilot that went to GoJet. Here's a newsflash for ya - ATA or Champion or Aloha pilots don't have an airline to go back to. Guess what... they go out of currency, they're careers are over, and flying is all they've done over a number of years.
Some of us were fortunate to find employment elsewhere, but a number of my fellow pilots weren't as fortunate. Why should 10,15,25 year veterans of ATA, Champion, Aloha give up their careers? What can you tell someone who's been in this industry possibly since before you were born to dissuade them from going to GoJet especially considering that the NMB decision has been rendered, ALPA is not appealing the decision, TSA ALPA has no picket line, GoJet is not flying anyone's struck work?
If there's ever a strike, or threat of flying struck work, or anything of the sort, and GoJet pilots cross any picket lines, you'll have the full support of every veteran pilot, and you're right - most will know better. But guess what... ALPA National has been encouraging all of us furloughees to apply at Compass, Mesaba, GoJet, Allegiant and any other place hiring. Somehow, I don't see any of the pilots hired at GoJet in the last year or so crossing any picket lines should any of them occur because chances are they truly know better.
Finally, professional airline pilots know that jumpseat is not a political weapon. If it becomes a political weapon, you might as well kiss that privilege goodbye because there's always gonna be someone with an axe to grind with either a pilot group, or another airline, etc. It only takes a couple of idiots to screw things up for your entire pilot group. Don't be that idiot.
Other than that, good luck, and let's hope you don't find yourself on the street with no airline to go back to.