That has been my argument all along. Either we want to be paid based on productivity (which is something we have absolutely zero input into other than work rules, and even that is a very small piece of the puzzle) or we want to be paid because we are blue collar labor and we push throttles. Too many still think flying a bigger airplane means you have some special talent or that because it holds more you should get a cut of that. To them I say, let's set a pay system whereby we are paid for the actual number of passengers that are actually ON THE AIRPLANE. (ferry flights would be free) Think the whale will still be the most senior??? This system is antiquated, and holds our career earnings back.

/rant

 

Don't FTB! You have a little more than an hour till the AE closes!

This has been a Public Service Announcement.

 

There are now 3 with a AE request in that are senior to 4800 (ish). I think some guys have figured out the paid move angle. Timbo?? Are you gonna be a hero???

 

They want their adoring fans to be able to welcome them at the civilian airports. When Clinton was elected Little Rock AFB spent some nice coin on getting their Base Ops up to snuff with a VIP room in anticipation of his coming through there a lot. I don't think he ever saw it--always came into LIT where the helicopters would take him away to other parts of the state. All the support came out from the base up north...cops, airstairs, etc. Maybe because of a fear of fuel contamination, but they would even drive the fuel trucks out from the AFB for Air Force One instead of taking fuel from LIT. Basically, a major PITA when he could have just landed at LRF.

 

I want to get paid commensurate with the skills I bring to the table - also because I show up on time, chemical free, no criminal background, can be relied upon to operate independent of supervision in an environment that, lets face it, most of the adults I know would not be able to do successfully. All of that is worth 250K a year. Period. IOW, because I push throttles.

Embrace the Blue Collar, it is something to be proud of!

 

Just be sure you take what you'll need out of your Jacket and put it in your shirt pocket before you leave the house!

I've got two "Dumb Shidt" stories for you, hope you can learn from my mistakes!

DS story 1: I'm flying MD-11 F/O, it's my first trip in March (1998ish) and I've got my jacket on, forgot to leave it at home, but when I get to the lounge the other guys say, "Hey, it's March! We don't need to wear our jackets." so I leve mine in the commuter room and we head off to Narita.

Well we didn't need pasports to get into Narita in those days, so I was not even aware that I didn't have mine, until we came home and I'm filling out my customs form as we taxi into ATL...and then the light in my head comes on...NO PASSPORT!! It's in my JACKET!

Well, as luck would have it, we parked at E5, right above the pilot lounge back door to the ramp. As soon as the jetway is hooked up, I look around for customs guys, seeing none, I hot foot it down the stairs and started banging on the door, until someone opened it, then ran in and got my passport, ran back up the stairs to the jet and proceded as normal. None the worse for it, but a close call!

OK, I'll never do that again: Which leads to DS story #2:

LAST WEEK...It was early March, and I said, "Oh thank God I don't need the Jacket!" so off I go for my commute flight up to ATL and as I'm nearing MCO (after driving 90 minutes) I realize...my ID IS ON MY JACKET!! DAMIT!!!

No time to go back home and get it, (3 hours round trip) so I call the CPSC, tell them about it, they sent a message to the gate of my commuter flight to ATL and I was able to get on the jumpseat without it...but the Security Clown at the Employee Parking wouldn't let me into the lot! Rat Bastard! I had to go to the Blue lot and pay $30 to park!!

I got past the MCO TSA with my driver's license and when I got to ATL they already had my new ID waiting for me. The old one was going to expire soon so they already had a new one made up.

So...if you are going to ditch your jacket, be sure you take your passport out of the breast pocket and unclip your ID from the lapel!

Sucks getting old...the first thing to go is your memory and the second thing is....

Oh, and for you whipper snappers out there laughing at the old farts, remember, nobody's getting any younger, so here's the 3 rules for when you get older, as told to me by an Old Fart back when I was a Baby Pilot:

1. Never trust a Fart
2. Never walk by a bathroom
3. Never waste a hard-on, even if you're alone

Words to live by.

 

Here's an idea:

1. No pay increase for C2012, just a simple 4-5% YOY increase like we've been having.

2. Add an additional 2.5% revenue sharing for the pilots paid out off quarterly revenue. What is that? $600M.

3. We'll be nice and not add the 401K contribution to that additional money.

4. When times are rough, our revenue sharing won't be as much as it is when times are good. Thus our pay is tied to the company's well being but not to that mysterious funny math profit number.

 

After consulting with the Wife, (her input: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FKING MIND??!!) I guess not, still got to put 4 kids through college, but If I was going to be a Hero, I'd bid 777 F/O. I'd still be number 1, buddy bid with the LCA's, only fly G/S', etc. and probably make more money, but I think they'd have to train me twice!

My 'right brain' left the building a long time ago!

Flaps 5?? Oh, yeah, get that wouldja?

Thanks...Taxi Check!

 

Something needs to be done about that moron. I know EXACTLY who you are talking about... He is the only one there that won't let you in if you don't have an airline ID. It is ridiculous. If a car has the required parking pass on it, that car should be allowed in.. period. That guy is a total assmask.

 

Okay, and I know T and Timbo will give me a hug over this and so please no I am not a paid supporter of Florida pilots, but for crying out loud WHY DO WE NOT HAVE A 767 BASE IN MCO??????

In MCO we had:
Delta Maintenance... chk
Flight Attendant base... chk
Several hundred 757 flights a day... chk
Overnight expenses for all of these overnight crews... chk

And yet no base? Is this punitive in nature? Are they planning on getting rid of the 757 flying out of MCO? I doubt it. But even if they were when did this company start caring about opening and closing bases at will? This seems punitive to me.

By the way, gotta love this out of MCO yesterday as we were boarding to fly to JFK:

FA: "Ma'am, I'm sorry but there is no more overhead space and we're going to have to check your bag."

Passenger: "Okay, that's fine."

Delta Jumpseater: "Don't do it ma'am. If they check your bag it'll be lost. You'll never see it again."

Passenger: "Wait, what? What should I do? I don't want to lose my bag?"

WTH?