First, thanks for your service
Second, I personally would not choose to call you a clown.

However, I hope you are as eager to thank me for my civilian service as an airline pilot where I have not been nearly as compensated as you have been (not to mention, you did not fund my flight training, nor my salary.) This is the reason most of us see your background "stats" as irrelevant. You are choosing to go to PSA, and will be guilty by association (as in war, which you are familiar with) I get it though, what do you care? You'll dabble in the airlines for a bit, and if you decide it's not what you expected, you'll still have your military pension and preference points. With all due respect, as proud as you are of your background, I hope you choose to just as passionately educate yourself on all the issues on this side of the fence also.

 

^^^^ding ding ding

 

The worst part about this 300 pages of bickering is... In 6-18 months, this will all be irrelevant and no one will give three **** about the scabs who are at PSA.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but did PSA go on strike recently or in the past where people crossed the picket line? Because when I think of scabs I think of the pilots from TransStates that went to GoJets when GoJets was created.

 

Eager to thank you for your Civilian Service? What service would that be? Walking freely in through an air conditioned terminal, where no one is trying to kill you in a freshly cleaned uniform. Silly Vilian, don't ever refer to flying for an airline in the same vein as serving, and watching friends die, in Afghanistan or Iraq.

That being said, I do agree.....I need to educate myself on these issues. Hence, I am reading the posts here and news articles and talking to friends already in the industry. However, I am still not convinced that the decision to take this Salary Cap at PSA is a bad thing.


As is see it, the Regional Business Model only works if, it can pay low wages and never keep pilots long enough to pay them high wages. Thus, locking themselves in at a salary cap guarantees a future for the company and the employees working for it. The assumption is, that you will eventually move to the majors. However, I realize that will not happen for everyone, that is the assumption.

Your anger at your fellow pilots is misdirected. The true culprit is the average American who refuses to pay the market cost of Travel. Who, thinks that the airplane flies itself and doesn't value your hard work and education. Instead of fighting growth, maybe our efforts would be better spent educating the public. Not through media outlets but through grassroots word of mouth. The trouble with most of us pilots, is that we are Optimist and generally love our profession of choice. So, when we talk about our job to others we generally end up saying something like, "I still can't believe I get paid to do this." While this comment is true in our heart, we still land and come home to a pile of bills that need to be paid.

My Suggestion:
Lets get out there and paint the baby ugly with the public. Use your social media, (Facebook, Twitter, Twatter, Faceshot), stop posting pictures that glamorize the lifestyle and stop telling friends how much you love the job. Stop being ashamed of the squaller and desperate living conditions and show it to the public. Americans as a whole will not stand for it, emotionally at least. The problem then lies, How do you get them to vote with there paycheck. To that I have no answer. Although, I think it probably rhymes with Regulated Ticket Prices. If you look internationally, you will see the top 3 airlines in the world are all heavily subsidized by their parent country. And, oh by the way, they usually only hire veterans.

We regulate the price of milk, corn, and eggs in this country because a long time ago American's decided that those commodities are required for the health of the country. The problem is, in todays day and age, Consulting Services are the largest export for America. And guess how we export them? Via, First Class Seats in International, and some domestic airlines.

One solution might be to create a business consultant tax for travel that would subsidize travel? But, that would never happen, those firms (Price Waterhouse Cooper, Deloitte and Touché, Goldman Sachs, and Lazard) are far too powerful to allow it.

I think the more realistic solution would be a Singular Union for all (121) Airline Pilots in America. We already supposedly have that. However, with one difference, One Seniority List. A singular seniority list would allow pilots to move freely from company to company, punishing the companies that don't treat them fairly and rewarding those that do. My brain hurts.

I'm out.

BB

 

I don't mean the term literally, it was just easier to write **************************

 

All that said. I probably wouldn't have voted for that, had I been with the company.

 

Why does a career Marine aviator choose a regional, especially PSA, when any number of legacy/major/LCCs are actively hiring?

 

Probably to get some 121 time. He won't be at PSA long.

 

Simple. I am from Charlotte and want to be based there to be close to my Aging Grandmother and the remainder of my family who I haven't had the opportunity to live near since 1994. And Yes, I need some 121 experience and hope not to be their long. Can't afford too, the wages that Regional Pilots are subjected to are down right criminal.