Originally Posted by
DAL 88 Driver
That's an interesting theory, but it doesn't match up with what I have observed over many years on the line. Most of the pilots with whom I have been privileged to fly express views that are much closer to what you call the "forum radicals" than they do to your "average pilots".
I understand why it might be a little bit of a mind-bender, but still, when the votes come in, we're a tame bunch.
I think there are several reasons for the discrepancy between what pilots
say, and how they actually
vote.:
1) I've never met a pilot that wanted to lose a *****ing contest. We're always very, very competitive in that event. You know the joke about pilots and the free house, right? There's more than a kernel of truth there.
2) Everyone has a pet issue they're very defensive about, but not everyone is very defensive on
every issue. You'll have a conversation with a guy that will slit the throat of anyone that doesn't get him his retirement back, then a conversation with someone that wants to burn an RJ to the ground, then someone that wants a 50% raise, and one last guy that will strike if the words RAW Score are not stricken from the next contract. You might conclude
all four pilots will burn the place to the ground over Scope, retirements, payrates, and the Reserve system, but, really, each guy will vote Yes based on the one or two issues, no matter what happens to the other 2 to four issues. The latest, most popular tack is for real senior guys to talk a lot about scope. If you're not capitalizing the letters on the forum, nowadays, you're just not cool. One 7ER candidate for Captain Rep in New York is campaigning on 1.5 pay for all pilots above 80 hours, and... SCOPE. SCOPE? Really? When is the last time you saw a group fail to trade SCOPE for retirements or payrates?
3) What you hear depends on where you sit. As I get more senior, and fly in bigger categories, the speech gets a lot... softer on many issues. As I slide back within my category, however, and people are flying domestic and redeyes, it gets a little more hardcore. For sure, if you're in the left seat, most F/O's are bound to sound more radical. So maybe I need an upgrade to get back closer to the truth.
I realize what I'm saying is anathema to what almost everyone that's on a web board wants to believe: that the silent majority is really, really militant, and held back by a compliant and weak MEC. I think the truth is that the majority is relatively compliant and worried about the company. I agree that there is universal annoyance with an MEC that seems to work in mysterious ways, but I wonder how dissapointed we might be if that MEC did what many of us clamor for, and released the results of their polling.