Originally Posted by
spank
Why'd we all take the job then? I hate playing devil's advocate gang, but the bottom line will remain the same. After reading a few poorly written articles that created a number of comments from the general public on a number of big media sites, one thing still remains. Joe Shmo and his family still want the cheapest ticket.
We (regional airlines) were created to decrease the cost of flying to the public and make the market more competitive.
That can/is/was accomplished by using smaller more fuel efficient "regional" equipment.... somewhere along the line they realized there was a virtual nver ending supply of folks with SJS and they started cutting pay and benefits as well to further maximize profits....
Originally Posted by
spank
(Because of the unions great idea of SCOPE) Lots of people have great ideas right now, and it's nice seeing everyone think outside of the box. That still doesn't change the fact of the matter. No matter how many pilots want more pay, management and the union know there's hundreds of other guys that are willing to do the same job for less. That's a pill we all have to swallow for now.
Will there be change in the future? Sure, when the market's starving for pilots again? Who knows, but lets not get too crazy about this. CNN showcased APC the other day, and there's no doubt the general public is probing our forums to read what we talk (complain) about.
Baby steps everyone, baby steps. It starts with regaining the public's respect. Wear your uniform properly, don't turn the PA into a half rate comedic act, and come into work with atleast an ounce of pride about what you do. We're not mainline captains and fo's for plenty of reasons. Whatever those are it doesn't matter, we're stuck at the "bottom feeders" for a while with little movement is in sight. Time to get back to basics, this used to be service industry. Many lost sight of that years, even decades ago. We're here to SERVE the public, the better we do that the more respect we'll earn. In turn, instead of wanting to fly in a "real plane" folks might be looking forward to fly around in a "crop duster".
Just a little food for thought. There's a lot we don't have control over in our jobs. We are the frontline, not the union, not management. US. Rant over.
As much as you like to blame people for accepting these low paying jobs, I'd like to point out that it isn't just the accepting of a low paying job, it's also lousy research into what company they even want to work for. So many of these kids just want to get into an airplane.... any airplane, that they do not care who they work for. I'm sorry, but if every single commercial pilot refused to wear colors that didn't matche their paycheck, then the actual companies (paycheck matches the name on the airplane - the big name, not the small one near the door) would be forced to grow....
All regional airline jobs are NOT the same.... flying a CRJ at XYZ company is not the same as flying it ABC. Some companies perform proper maintenance, replace time limited parts, comply with AD's, conduct their own training and accept responsibility for their product rather than farm training our to a subcontract, along with the liability... When you jumpseat on some of these regional carriers and see MULTIPLE MEL stickers all over the cockpit.... you HAVE to know something is wrong there.
The FAA is filled with former ATA lobbyists, and ATA executive positions are filled with former FAA executives.... FAA SAfety Inspectors almost always come from the airlines themselves.... the cross pollenation is ridiculous... the fox is watching the hen house, and has been for years. The effects are just now starting to be seen and felt.