When you say stuck, do you really mean that you have so many negatives in your background that no reputable airline will hire you or are you just lacking the initiative to go back in job seeking mode?

I've talked to pilots who say they are "stuck" when they are really too lazy to get off their butts and do what's necessary in today's job market, to get a better job.

 

Well here I am in Cvg waiting for the intv in the morning.
I'm going to use it a practice because of the info you guys have posted. It sounds worse than the job than I have now. Right now I'm waiting for an upgrade to Captain In an RJ and I don't really need the job I was just hoping or assuming that the upgrade would be equivalent to what Atlas is making. I'm having trouble deciding whether I'm going to call them out on the lies.

 

I really have to wonder at posts like this. Are you some RJ driver that went to work for a regional that just needed a body to fill the seat. Or maybe you are ex military and you have a good mil background with buddies in HR ready to walk you into Delta.

Real world is not like that. Once you step up to the top 6 airlines it's ultra competitive with a lot of qualified people trying to get on. The only pilot shortage is for sh** jobs. Every place else has a pool with many swimmers.

 

PLEASE!!!!...call them out on their lies! The truth needs to be continued to be heard by all.

 

Stuck means stuck, not able to extract one's self from one's current situation without extreme pain or permanent disfigurement.

I got the call from United. I'm forever grateful I did. But I did nothing dozens of other SAI pilots have not done, my qualifications were not superior to theirs, my flying, organizational, and people skills are not superior to theirs. And if United had called them instead of me UAL would have seen that. UA hires maybe 20 supplemental guys a year, and maybe 2 of those guys come from SAI. Maybe DL, AA, and WN have similar numbers. Maybe the mid-majors hire another 5-10 a year. Maybe FedEx and UPS will up their game and grab another 5-10: best case is thirty out of 210 Southern pilots make it to the promised land every year. More realistically, only five to ten move up.

That's s(t)uck.

Atlas was picking up quite a few SAI guys before they bought the company. Now Connie is the only alternative ACMI carrier a SAI guy can look to for a better situation.

I looked really hard at RJ operators before UA called me. If I had lived in an RJ domicile I just might have made the jump. The odds of being picked up by a legacy are much better from the 50-70 seat world than they are from the ACMI world.

It would have been a pay cut to go from a 6 year SAI WB FO to a 1st year RJ CAQFO, but a QOL improvement. But I never was sure if I could afford the luxury of the pay cut.

That's stuck.

11,000 applications on file at UAL. We will hire 300 this year. That's 2.7% Those are lottery ticket odds.

That's stuck.

Say you leave SAI after ten years and get a gig at a mid-major, it might take you five years to break even on base salary. If you don't have five years difference in pay in savings that you can live off of while you catch up, you're ess oh ell.

That's stuck.


And if you just quit, move on to greener pastures without warning those who come after you of the hazards you encountered and they will face, then the leeches who run the place will simply double down on their abuse and exploitive tactics to secure even further concessions from their new employees, and lower the bar for everyone in the industry.


Spike is stuck. Whale is stuck. 8 is stuck. A hundred other great guys are stuck.


But they're not giving up. They can keep others from making the mistake of joining a company with a malevolent management and an unacceptable contract. They will fight that management for a fair deal. And when they win their contract battle, they will encourage others to come enjoy the fruits of their labors.

That's how this s... works.

 

737 upgrade is at least 3-4 years. There were a handful of new hires awarded left seat either in or shortly after training... they went through upgrade and IOE but never saw the left seat. They're now back in the right seat on the Triple. The original contract was for 9 airframes I believe, we are at 5 with no plans for more. Purchase wants this DHL 737 deal to die of natural causes. If you're coming here for an upgrade, don't.

FWIW, people are leaving/about to leave for LCCs. That should tell you a lot. I know of a couple that left BEFORE all of this **** hit the fan and even they said it's light years better. Things have gotten exponentially worse since... If you're driving an RJ, hang out, upgrade, become a check airman. Or, go to Spirit/Frontier/Blue/Virgin if you want a type, but don't come here or Atlas.

 

A current ATI poster pegged this guy as a troll in several other threads. His posts virtually reek of the p#^s in the cornflakes, stir the pot tone. Meanwhile, another rob3 Pulitzer Prize post is wasted (not totally, beneficial for others to read) in a vain attempt to get through this guys' "MEMbrain", if you catch my drift.

 

There are many in this thread and on this board who have been there and done that, whom have a leg upon which to stand, and who know about whence they speak.

You do not.

 

Rob,

FWIW, I'm not a great guy. The problem is that airlines are trying to screen out guys who they never want to see on the other side of the negotiating table; guys who know that management sees them as a cost center, and not the engine of their success. In 2006 I was out of work and interviewing anywhere I could. Unfortunately, systematic discrimination against Guard and Reserve pilots was at its peak then (especially Army officers). Now, I'm too old, and have my back to the wall. Let me put my cards on the table; my only hope is to make my current job a good place to be, and have some advantage of my hard earned seniority. If young, impressionable pilots come to Southern before we get a fair contract, they only set back my goal. DON"T COME HERE! Wait a year or two until we get a good contract, then come. I promise, you are happier at your corporate/regional/banner tow/flight instructing/fish spotting/power line patrolling/sight seeing job.

A word of advice: do not interview and burn any bridges by confronting them with their lies and abuse of pilots. If you want the practice, come and interview. If you can fog a mirror, they will offer you a job. Politely, thank them, but inform them that due to family/personal/financial/whatever circumstances, you are unable to accept their offer at this time. Keep the relations cordial. You may be glad you did. A word to the wise is sufficient.

Spike

 

Look for a PM from me.