Originally Posted by
exxcalibur11
Eaglefly,
Generally, I think that your posts are very insightful, based on fact and are for the most part unbiased. But here you are making some broad generalizations about a group you may be out of touch with.
"To them, all that's important is "right now". Getting jet PIC time and being able to make the payments on a new 'vette is important for 27 year olds, not what might be in their best interest in 15 years. Pilots are great at flying planes, but pretty stupid in many other ways."
I work at Eagle and fit right into your 27 year old category. I don't really have anything as extravagant as a 'vette and I don't know any other FO's here that are worried about making payments on anything other than their homes and providing for their families.
To suggest this causes you to sound like you don't respect many of the FO's you fly with or consider them very responsible. Sure, I am probably guilty of being worried about things in the present that may be considered trivial and superficial. But to suggest that FO's at Eagle, both junior and senior, are not concerned about their future at this airline as well as their potential careers outside of Eagle is just ludicrous.
You'll note that I prefaced that statement with the term "plenty of angry Eagle pilots". It doesn't encompass all and was not meant to, so I'm sorry you took that personally and/or assumed it was a blanket statement. The "'vette" part wasn't the point. The point was the concept of immeadiate gratification at the expense of long-term interest and IMO, it's valid. It's the primary underlying motivation among many younger regional pilots.
Originally Posted by
exxcalibur11
You seem to put a lot of responsibility on the young pilots for both the state of the industry today as well as where it is headed in the future. No doubt, we will have to live up to the task as the senior guys retire and we move up the ranks. But tell me, what are you and your senior peers doing to help the problem?
The younger pilots at regionals don't bear much of the responsibility for why we are where we are. Actually that lies squarely on older, more senior pilots and especially ALPA and to a lesser degree the APA. Initially, the concepts of isolation and exclusion felt good until what was mistakenly assumed to be a fad, became a goliath and has morphed from the tolerated to the controlling. The younger pilots have simply fallen into the same trap, by including their own self-interests which didn't cause the problem, but feeds it.
As far as "helping" to solve the problem, that will have little to do with older, more senior regional "lifers" as so many both young at the regionals focus their bullseye on our backs and those at the majors who have focused their bullseye on our fronts look to make us disappear. IMO, the pilots at the majors have lost the battle and ALPA at least is an emasculated entity. What the APA does on AA property is yet to be revealed, but their idea of napalming Eagle and all RJ's for that matter doesn't inspire confidence of solving any problems.
Originally Posted by
exxcalibut11
"My guess is another 2-3 years to milk that fat cow furiously getting every last drop until she is led out of the barn and replaced with a scraggly goat."
Apparently, not much. Anyone else see a "ME ME" attitude here? One normally reserved for the 27 year old with a "vette" looking for fast PIC.
I'm not trying to suggest it's all on you and your peer group, but geez, throw me a bone here. Educate the young guys so we can work together. We are willing to listen. I'm just tired of hearing from senior captains, " hurry up and leave Eagle." Wow, that's the best advice I've heard, why didn't I think of that?
Seems like they already gave up.
Lets get those golden days back in any form we can
The above statement is the current statement of reality for senior pilots at Eagle, which is likely in its final days as a decent regional job for those who have stuck it out and sacrificed for decades to see that decent life materialize. Considering the number of pilots here (again, not ALL) it seems the focus is not long term stability or career potential, but fast upgrades.
Ironically, if you read these forums, most of the "hurry up and leave Eagle comments" come from other angry young F/O's. In fact, most of the time a newbie comes aboard asking about Eagle, he's inundated by comments that he should go elsewhere.