rickair7777

Not only that but unions don't really have to honor other craft's strikes. Where does that stop? If the hotel maids union strikes do I refuse to go on overnight trips so I don't cross their line?

Not only that but even if the pilots wanted to, it would be illegal under RLA.

Not only that but government employees shouldn't be allowed to strike anyway.

kevbo

PATCO was a big domino, it fell and the "man" has been winning ever since. Dubbya hired scary Mary to destroy aircraft maintenance as a viable career in the USA. They were more successful than Regan was, at least ATC jobs remain. MX is a.poor mans job in every conceivable way. I just hate to see some unsuspecting American get conned into making a costly mistake for the benefit of a corporate scumbag. I need to find venues where I can get the word out vocaly since most mechanics can't read.

RiddleEagle18

Deleted. Already discussed.

cfimechanic

I thought of another thing that might be affecting A&P comparison. When there is a mechanic shortage at a company, the common practice is that everyone else works more hours to pick up the slack. While this is also done with pilots there is more of a limit to how much extra work a pilot can take on. Creating greater demand and in turn raising wages.

tomgoodman

Yes, those who post broad-brush insults on APC do need to find new venues.

JohnBurke

This mechanic reads just fine; well enough to understand that one's words often say more about the speaker than the subject.

Case in point.

kevbo

Im surprised that so many of you entertained this thread. Pilots really do have an inflated view of their MX, comparing the two is utterly ridiculous. It should asked, "Why do A&Ps make less than any other kind of mechanic" Or almost any other blue collar worker for that matter.

urp99

"Why do A&Ps make less than any other kind of mechanic" Or almost any other blue collar worker for that matter.

I've wondered this many times, I've owned my own shop, and worked at others, and almost without exception the local small engine shop had a higher shop rate, and their mechanics made more. It just never added up to me why a guy changing the oil in a lawn mower would make as much as an A&P.
Like others on this forum, I'm a certificated mechanic and commercial pilot, with close to 30 years in the industry. I had a job not too long ago doing maintenance and grounds crewing for an aerial applicator (AKA 'crop duster'), where I was quite vocal about wanting to transition to a pilot position. After 6 years of being there I was making 48,000 year, plus benefits, which was pretty good, and close to the top pay anywhere in the area. The last time I talked to the boss about transitioning to piloting he told me they were more interested in keeping me in the shop, and offered me a substantial pay increase to stay there, his reasoning? It's easy to find pilots, but they couldn't get mechanics. The pilots were making 6 figures for 4 months of work, I was making less than half that for 12. If I have the license, experience, and desire to fly, why shouldn't I? Why would somebody work longer hours for lower pay, to do a job they don't like an much? The obvious answer is pay, if you have your pick of pilots you're paying well in the industry, if you can't find mechanics you're not paying enough. There are other factors to be sure, but pay is the big denominator for getting good people working for you. We were both home every night, the pilots weren't responsible for passengers lives, if anything the ground crew had it harder working sunup to sundown in the heat while the pilots had A/C and frequently had midday breaks. Now, the pilots were certainly more experienced and skilled, and the stakes could be much higher if they screwed up than if one of us screwed up, but it was the lack of willingness to let me try to transition, the desire to keep my in shop regardless of my desire/capabilities that really got to me.
If it was an isolated incident I would think perhaps they just didn't trust me as a pilot, but when I left there to pursue flying full time almost every prospective employer I contacted was more interested in my A&P/IA than they were my commercial pilot. And, much like others, I found myself doing more than a little maintenance work. If you think working as a mechanic for pilots wages is bad wait until your employer expects you to A&P for free because you're making the big bucks as a professional pilot!
It got bad enough that in the last batch of resumes I sent out I left off the fact that I had my IA, and the first few phone calls started out with 'I see you have your A&P, have you ever considered getting your IA?'.
I think it boils down to the industry pays what it has to, it's been established that this is what we get, and there had been enough mechanics willing to work for this pay, so that's where it's stagnated. Someone further up pointed out that there might be a bigger mechanic shortage than pilot shortage however,
and that's the truth. There's an even bigger shortage of good A&P's, and I think it's going to get worse before it gets better.

cfimechanic

urp99 I couldn't have said it better.

There is this an extreme shortage of good mechanics especially with there IA. I have gotten the same response from multiple employers you did. We rely need you in the shop, we would put you in the cockpit but pilots are easier to find. But then they pay the pilot more than the mechanic. I to thought it could be a potential character flaw I had that made employers not want to put me in the cockpit. I had to have a lot of talks with a lot of people to come to the conclusion it wasn't me, it's just the way it is (code for it doesn't make sense). It seams to defy the logic of free market capitalism.

I am not saying pilots shouldn't make more than mechanics, they should. Its just that the chasm between the two is enormous.

kevbo

Socially, you are judged at the lowest common denominator. White collar types see mechanics as someone with dirty clothes and missing teeth. They need you but otherwise want nothing to do with you. Upward mobility is much about the things you simply refuse to do. What do you call an airline captain that cleans toilets? A janitor!