More Encouragment . Part III Continued
Part III Continued
So, after 25 years of flying experience, tests, physical exams, simulator checks, military service, etc., etc, I finally reach the left seat of an airplane in the service of a commercial carrier. Yep, I also get a 6 figure income. Tell me, why shouldn‘t I??? If anyone could get here, then this profession wouldn‘t have the added benefit of a nice salary. It doesn’t require a doctor the same number of years to get to 6 figures, yet, no one denies that surgeon is worth every penny when you‘re laying on the table with your chest sliced open and a rib splitter making a hole large enough to reach through. And a surgeon only kills them one at a time when he screws up!! I don‘t hear you whining about stock brokers getting 6 figure incomes. You don’t seem to have any problem with paying $100 to take your family to a professional baseball game to watch a 19 year-old play ball for $1 million per year!! But for some reason, you are ****ed off that professional airline pilots are eventually compensated with a 6 figure income.
And you want to whine about their retirement? Statistically, only 1 out of every 3 pilots entering this profession will ever make it to retirement. That‘s a 66 percent chance that I‘ll never see the lump-sum numbers that you want to ***** about. And guess what, if it weren‘t for collective bargaining, contracts, unions and federal regulations, reckless managements would be robbing those retirement funds like Jesse James. Thank goodness there are unions out there protecting the earned benefits of professionals.
So why shouldn’t the pilots at American, United, Delta or any other union carrier, fight for the survival of their profession. Obviously managements have forgotten (or selectively forget) what it took to get in the pilot‘s seat (managements are predominately non-pilots) and what it takes to remain there for a full career. Executives would like to ignore their own high salaries, bonuses and benefits and rather ignite the public and fellow employees against the ‚“6 figure salaries” of the professional pilots.
So you, in your ignorance, jump on that bashing bandwagon without being armed with the facts. The fact of the matter is this: If you, or any other living, breathing, whining non-achiever wants to make the 6 figure income of a professional pilot - it‘s an open door that‘s available to you. I‘ve laid it out for you. It‘s there for the taking. All you have to do is go for it. You can‘t sit on the sideline and whine though. Whining wont get you into the Captain‘s seat on a B-767. You also can’t leap from your Piper Cherokee into the left seat of that MD-11 or B-727. There are no short cuts!! But you can get there; many have made it. So can you. But if you don’t want it bad enough to pay the price, or you don’t have the commitment, dedication, enthusiasm or determination to get there.....then STOP YOUR *****ING.
Because, you see, just as much as you obviously don’t care what it takes for an individual to make it to the left seat of a B-747 with 400 passengers on board, we don’t give a rat‘s ass that you don’t care !! We‘ll do what we have to do to protect our profession, careers, benefits and salaries. It wasn‘t a cake walk to get here.....that’s obvious because you’re not among those that have SUCCEEDED.
Have another slice of pizza, flip to a different channel and stop bashing those who chose a tougher career.
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DON'T COMPARE MY JOB TO OTHER JOBS
Lot has been said and written in the press concerning pilots' salaries and compensation. We have been told about how much it will cost our company, our job has been compared to others, and various subtle and not so subtle threats and intimidation tactics have been hurled at our group. In light of the current situation, please allow me, a pilot to give you a small glimpse into my world...
DON'T COMPARE MY JOB TO OTHER JOBS
..How many boardrooms explode over Long Island Sound?
..How many meetings conclude with hundreds of dead bodies?
..How many trucks cost $82 million dollars?
..How many doctors spend half the month away from their families?
..Do the children of media representatives cry when Daddy puts on his uniform to go to work because they know he'll be gone for a week?
..How many salesmen lose their jobs because they have high blood pressure?
..How many lawyers spent Christmas alone in a crash pad?
..When your wife is watching TV an the program is interrupted by a news flash of an aircraft accident, does she momentarily freeze in fear for what she might hear?
There is not another profession in the world where the consequences for mistakes are so catastrophic and unforgiving.
THE PRICE
..I pay the price when somebody loads full oxygen containers in the cargo hold
..I pay the price when a terrorist has a bone to pick
..I pay the price when loaders forget to set the locks
..I pay the price when engineers design a fuel pump not quite correctly
..I pay the price when Mother Nature decides to shift the winds...
YOU SPEAK OF THE COST
..Ask the CEO of Value-Jet the cost of a DC-9 buried in the Everglades...The Cost..
..Ask Fred Smith the cost to scrape a DC-10 and MD-11 from the runways at Stewart and Newark...The Cost
..Ask Korean Airlines the cost of a 747 that didn't quite make the runway at Guam... The Cost
..Ask Fine Air the cost to clean up a DC-8 off a Miami Street... The Cost
.Ask Bob Crandall the cost of a B-757 impacting a Colombian mountain...The Cost
..And if not for their Cool, Calm, Professionalism, what could have been the cost of a UPS B-727 that suddenly went dark and silent four miles above Chicago? How much were they worth to you that night? Industry standard or 25 % below? ...... The Cost
WHEN YOU TRY TO INTIMIDATE ME, REMEMBER
..It was I who flew Cobra gunships in the jungles of Vietnam while you worked on your masters degree
..It was I who sits alone at the tip of an F-18 in the silent instant before I am catapulted over a cold, dark sea, while you slept peacefully in your bed
..It was I who, one night watched my wings grow heavy with ice, miles from the safety of the nearest airport praying that I had enough fuel to find clear skies, while you watched Monday night football
..It was I who flew a C-130 into Panamanian gunfire, while you decorated your Christmas tree in 1989
..It was I who faced head-on the fourth largest army in the world over the deserts of Iraq and brought it to its knees, while you watched it on CNN
..It was I who landed an A-6 on a floating piece of tarmac no bigger than your backyard, while you mowed yours
..It was I who orbited in unarmed tankers over enemy territory to replenish others sworn to protect you
..It was I who watched missiles and bullets blossom in my face, yet didn't turn and run, while you watched the flowers in your garden blossom
..It was I who buried a friend
..It is I who knows a little boy who will never play catch with his Dad, so that you may play with your grandchild
Sir, please don't try to intimidate me
I am not your enemy, I am your asset, an asset that has experienced and accomplished things few others dare to try. Realize this and there a few obstacles we can't overcome.
Author Unknown