Flyinhawaiian

Well that helps. Didn't think to just check the homepage.

aviatorhi

Strikes me as amazing how much hate there is for Southern solely for the purposes of hatred. Some people really have no life.

Thedude

If you have ever worked such a job....you would understand.
Some of us were lucky enough to escape and are trying to warn others.

PotatoChip

I worked there. My hatred is real and well deserved. I have a life.

aviatorhi

While you both have a right to your opinion you probably don't realize there are dozens of places "worse" than Southern. Being away from home for 20-40 days at a time too much for you? Or was it something more than that?

(Oh, and before you go down the whole "management doesn't care" road I can walk up to a pilot at any airline and they will tell me the same thing, how about something original for once?)

PotatoChip

Your right, I do have the right to my opinion, which I have shared on this forum and given reasons for. I never said there weren't worse places. Why are you bent over about me sharing it?

Something original? It has to be original for a place to suck??
Let's see... Besides the abysmal pay rates, the useless union who promised, "We won't sign in industry low rates in the 737" and then promptly did just that, the most incompetent scheduling I have ever seen, there was the simple fact that they purposefully hired 50 pilot for the sole purpose to have them on property to fly the 747-400 for 3-10 months while they finished out their 747-200 contracts. The plan from the beginning was the hire these pilots to furlough them within a year.

How do I know?

The CEO came into our class and told us!!

Thanks!

So yes, they can eat it.

As I have typed previously, in three months on the line approximately 1/4 of my layovers ended with no hotel simply because scheduling got the time zone or date wrong. I have shown up to airports with no transportation scheduled and no way to call HQ short of an international collect call. Yes, yes, as Birdstrikes will tell you, this was four years ago and there's no more adhoc. Fine. But it's still the same management team that orchestrated all that.

It will only get worse. And of 15 guys I know that had recall rights, only one took it.

robthree

Well, those guys will love working at Southern. Because there won't be much time away from work to to enjoy it.

Dozens? No. There are not dozens of places worse than SAI. There are a few. CA at a regional is not. FO at a regional may not be either, depending on the company and that person's individual circumstances. There are no worse places doing the same job. None. Connie may not be measurably better, but they are clearly not worse off.


Being away from home for 20 days at a time is absolutely too much to ask of my children. 40 days is too much to ask of my wife. Not paying extension pay for it is too much to ask of me.

gringo

Technically, you're correct; here are just a few that come to mind:

Gitmo
Lahore
Hillary's waxing room (go ahead, try to erase that image from your mind)
The Sudan
Hialeah
Iraq
Satan's outhouse (never mind; already mentioned Hillary)

But as far as airlines go? When you have an exodus of mid-level seniority guys leaving Southern Air to go work for Western Global, you know you've not only hit rock bottom, you've done gone and smashed right through it.

Birdstrikes

As I've posted before. Working for a Supplemental carrier is definitely not for everyone. For anyone thinking of applying to any ACMI carrier do your research and make sure it is a job that works for you, your family, and most importantly that you have the aviator and life skills to deal with it. SAI, and the similar Supplementals, are not the Workers' Paradise that those who aspire to work for a legacy carrier imagine their dream job will be someday.

The funny thing is that once those pilots reach those top rung jobs they quickly discover it is more *****ing, complaining, incompetent management, etc, etc. I had to listen to an AA captain whine to me the other night and tell me how bad he had it. I can only imagine how bad it must be for him. Lol. My friends at UPS love their paychecks but hate the company they work for. Will a few more dollars make you happier?

The main difference between Supplemental and Legacy pilot groups is that the Legacy groups have been around for a long, long time and fought for everything they currently have. Or, they fought to get back some of what they have given away. Management did not just give those pilots their higher pay rates and benefits. Unfortunately, SAI's pilots have been stuck under a CBA that is almost 9 years old and have not had much of an opportunity to bargain for more. As far as competent management goes....one does not need to look very far back into UAL's, AA's, DAL's, etc history to see executives that literally stole from their employees. How did that UAL ESOP program work? How many DAL retirees got screwed with the bankruptcy? How did the TWA/AA or SWA/AirTran mergers workout? The grass can be greener at other airlines....it can also be full of dog$hit.

Many pilots are happy once they "escape" from Southern. However, most look back at their time here and remeber the good times and compare it with their lack of fun and good times at their current job. A bigger paycheck does not make for a better QOL. That's fact from many, many friends who have left for what they thought was a better carrier. Or, friends at SAI who really don't want to accept their AA recall, but due to rapidly approaching retirement are grudgingly trying to convince themselves to go back.

I have the experience, skills, degree, pedigree, lack of criminal record, and everything else to get hired by any other carrier. Would I be happier? Maybe....but commuting to some crappy crash pad to sit reserve in some horrible, hub city to fly crappy trips with old, *****y flight attendants just so I can be a "real airline pilot" with shiny new wings and a hat does not appeal to me. I like my current job at Southern, as do most here.

Could Southern be better? Definitely! Are there people working hard to make things better here? Definitely! There will always be complainers, whiners and those that should never have come to work at Southern in the first place (this thread is full of them). Every airline has them. There are also those that departed Southern and somehow get off on a weird fetish of bashing Southern with their keyboard. I guess YouPorn just doesn't do it for them anymore? I'm sure the executives cry every time they read the latest flame SAI posts. . The resumes keep streaming in and the hiring standards have not been lowered. Recent newhires have proven to be very competent.

Do your research, make a decision to come to Southern (or not), stay at Southern, or leave. It's that simple. If you leave and then want to keep bad mouthing SAI I can't stop you. However, you are only hurting your former pilot group and are doing nothing to help us make it better.....and that is sad & pathetic.

Birdstrikes

Bzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzz. Hey Gringo. Is that your stick shaker going off again? How many flights was it?

Hopefully your new Airbus and ProStandards counseling at Spirit is keeping you and your passengers safe.

Sorry, but nobody misses you. However, your posts continue to entertain us.