Originally Posted by
Professor
Wrong, dude. Or not completely correct. Unless you are hanging with the troopers down in the cafeteria, I think you are projecting quite a bit. They aren't all bad.
I've talked to a fair number of these guys while sitting around down there grabbing a bite and they are just people looking for a decent wage and to be treated fairly.
While hiring practices and leadership certainly are factors, we have been having a 'brain drain' in Kennedy for some time. Most int'l contract ground personnel and JB at Kennedy pay better than we do, but require some experience. What has happened in the past is that DAL trains these folks for very low pay/hour and they work for a bit for us until they get hired on somewhere else at Kennedy.
Up until a few years ago, JB paid about .50 cents more an hour than we did for ramp crew. The average tenure back then was around 2 weeks then they bailed to JB. $11/hour or whatever we pay is okay in Jackson, MS but when a bellman or a bus driver makes $70k + with benefits, we aren't going to attract the creme de la creme. There will be exceptions, but that's what they are, exceptions. Not detracting from their hard work, just pointing out you will get what you pay for.