Well, we've got the "Captain Diatribe," the "First Officer Missive," and the "Second Officer epistle" -- what a brilliant display of Professional Management philosophies. Take a problem that involves 1% of the crew force, and chew out the other 99% in the process. Let's count the style points together, shall we?


Granted, the 1% problem children consume far more than 1% of his time, but the answer to "the problem," as he so eloquently states it, is not to denegrate those of us who are consumate profesionals and get the job done day in and day out without a hitch. Wanna change that? Try destroying morale by flaming on every employee under you on the wiring diagram, and see if they won't perform better.


One possible explanation: Cheever's gone, Cassel's in, and Cassel's torqued about the MD-11 tail strike. Rather than yell at the pilots himself, since he realizes most of us won't listen to him anyway, he delegates the job to Jack. Jack can flame on us all, or find another job. (I'd vote with my feet, but then again, I wouldn't take that job in the first place anyway.)

Speculation? Yepp. That's about all we can do. I'm not gonna be the one to reply to his e-mail and ask him how things are going at home.


Sounds like he wants an up-or-out program, too. Personally, I think if a guy wants to oil on the slaveship for 25 years, and he's a conscientious, professional oiler, let him be. Somebody's got to do it, right? Why not let it be someone who's happy doing it? If a guy wants to be an Airbus FO forever so he can enjoy seniority and quality of life, why not let him? If he's bad at the job, it's because he's bad at the job, not because he's doing layovers in his home town. Address the problem, not the bidding preferences.




If we had a problem with professionalism before, we're gonna have a problem with morale now. Guess who's the cause of THAT problem?




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