"Bottom Feeder" = a pilot who will attack another pilot, or group of pilots, usually without specific knowledge of the situation. Usually negative in attitude, but safely hidden behind a screen name or a trail of rumors. Not always, but normally an inexperienced FO, naive to the ways of the industry only learning from the forums and lifers at their own regional. Someone that enjoys themselves at the expense of others. Will usually find fault where there is none. Immature in nature, but without the tools to change. They will retaliate with ignorant remarks only to show their true colors. And finally, a "bottom feeder" will tell you their goal is unity and a better standard for their industry, yet their actions do nothing but the opposite.

As aviation professionals, as I use that term loosely, look at the problems we face today. Threads like this are not the solution, nor are the many who participate.

 

Well Said, Pilots used to be treated as real professionals, and we can get back to that, but we have to respect ourselves first...that means treating each other with respect. (The hyena referance is dead on). Because of the state of aviation I have been looking hard in the mirror, I challange other pilots to do the same....Good luck to all of us, my furlough starts Jan 1, 2009.

 

I'm guessing he's never worked under a contract with soft pay. He probably has no idea about duty and trip rigs, min day pay, block or better, etc. Judging from his posts, I think the answer to your question is NO! Oh, and a Contract is only as good as the company who HONORS it. J.O. is a scumbag, and I EXPECT him to find ways to not honor the new contract. Good Luck Mesa pilots, even with your new contract you're still going to need it.

 

I’m a military guy who follows the airline industry very closely. I’ve been lurking around this site more than I care to admit. I, as well as many other 3K+ hour pilots in the military, want QOL, pay, benefits in a good follow-on job post Air Force. Given that I already have all the PIC turbine time that anyone could want, I will probably never go to work at a regional carrier; however, the events of late trouble me greatly. IMO there is a trickle down effect (or trickle up effect.) What the regional pilot concedes in the form of a contract bleeds over to the legacy carriers. A regional pilot, working for peanuts and getting trampled on by management, may very well end up at a major one day and, unfortunately, take that same mentality. He (or she) may take that learned philosophy higher up, elect union officials, so on and so forth, and end up with a contract that is not too different from what they had a regional carrier (fill in the blank.) Don’t misunderstand me. I admire anyone who puts on a uniform, and safely flies precious lives from point A to point B. I encourage each of you to continue to act like professionals. It doesn’t matter if you’re flying a guy to Key West for lunch in a C-172 or flying 400 people to London in a 747. The public depends on you to get them there safely. And for the guys that do this day in and day in less than desirable conditions to put food on the table, I applaud you. But an extended thank you to the Mesa 400 that took a stand of trying to make things better for your airline and ultimately the industry. Hopefully I can fly alongside you and shake your hand one of these days.

 

Thanks Diego,

Thanks for the post and thanks for your military service. Good luck in your civilian career!

Winglet

 

What a horrible thread. Another "my airline vs. your airline" example of the lack of unity among regional pilots.

 

whtever,

Good post. I have to admit I got my blood boiling during these past negotiations here at Mesa. The Tentative Agreement was voted in by 18 votes. It passed by 2.2%. Approximately half of the Mesa pilots you meet voted no and were willing to risk their careers to bring our contract up to industry standard. I truly believed we had a good chance to improve our quality of life and the industry with this TA. On many points we did meet the standard and on a couple of issues we exceeded it. Our negotiators did make some really great improvements but I believed if we had collectively voted no we could have sent the TA back for review and could have come very close to an "industry standard" throughout the entire contract.

I've been thinking alot about where we go from here and I've decided that personally I'll concentrate on professionalism, unity and optimism. I'm going to ask all of you reading this to join me and ignore the negativity and divisiveness and try to persuade our fellow pilots to unify under the call for an industry standard.

The next great round of contract negotiations are just about to begin and regardless of your political affiliations we will for the first time in years have a labor-friendly administration in office. We at Mesa start negotiations again in September 2010. Contact your individual MEC's and encourage them to define and bargain for an industry standard. All "regional airline" MEC's should have a bottom line that will not be crossed. If we support each other we can stop the whipsawing and the decline of a once proud industry.

The way things look I'll probably be at Mesa for a few more years at least and I'll do what I can from my end. Just think of me as your "guy on the inside". I just ask all the pilots reading this to "educate" from their position with encouragement and optimism. Let's all do the best we can to return this industry to the great place it once was.

Good Luck to us all,

Winglet

 

TPROP4ever,

THAT'S THE SPIRIT! May your furlough be brief.

Good Luck,

Winglet

 

Will the real slim shady please stand up?

 

nominated for post of the year