Originally Posted by
Fishfreighter
Duvie,
Let me get this straight...the economic system you "embrace" is the "outsource to the lowest bidder, even if it means I lose my job or work for crappy wages" system?
Or in my words: The company that provides the desired product for the lowest price, is rewarded.
Given two comparable airlines, what economic system would award business to the one with higher costs? When apple goes to buy pieces for their machines do you think they look for the company with the best treated workers, or the product they need for the best price?
Originally Posted by
Fishfreighter
That kind of thinking went out when Upton Sinclair exposed the meat packing industry in "The Jungle". You need to go back and read how labor (that's right, pilots are just labor) was treated in the "good old days" you and the Tea Party appear to "embrace".
Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
I do not support any political ideology that asks for blind obedience, over-simplifies and propagandizes every issue and mocks critical thinking, therefore I do not support the Tea Party.
I do not support a party of talking heads, devoid of real leadership, driven by corporate interests, therefore I cannot vote Republican.
I do not support a party without direction, who would rather toss scraps at the poor rather than empower them, therefore I am not a Democrat.
I support a level playing field for all which is why I am wary of anybody who wants protection from competition. If I can do your job for less, then perhaps it is not I who am paid a crummy wage, but perhaps you who has been overpaid. These words are blasphemy among airline pilots, but just like I cannot demand that a girl at a bar find me attractive, neither can you demand your worth to the company without something to back it up. You might have a mullet and be able to slay sweet guitar solos, but the girls at the bar don't want that anymore than the airlines believe in superior pilot skills. All they want is well-groomed individuals who will smile at passengers and not crash airplanes. With all the modern advancements in training and technology, there are very few routes left that are technically challenging. You can take the last line anyway you want, but I've personally seen my fair share of difficult flying and can assert that much of the danger we used to face has been mitigated between EGPWS, TCAS-II, MFDs, of course CRM and the list goes on.
Training for professional pilots became so streamlined that there was much more supply than demand. Things are changing and I believe we'll be back in the driver's seat before too long. At that point, hopefully we can raise wages again, not to where they "should be," but wherever the market places them. It is irrelevant to try and figure out what a pilot should be paid, the more relevant notion is to figure out what he/she can demand and I believe in the coming years, just like the 60s and 70s, the latter will again be higher than the former.