Ok this person isnt a pilot... no way.

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12 Tara 17 April 2008 @ 10:16 am

As a pilot myself, I find it amusing how everyone thinks we make big bucks. People always figure we have hundreds of lives in our hands, both in air and on the ground, but that isn’t true. Airline planes have auto-pilot, so the people in the cockpit are really just there to make the passengers feel better. The big jets can fly without pilots, but who would get on a plane being operated by some guy in a dark control room at an undisclosed ground location? Of course, the salary of pilots isn’t so bad when you consider the benfits they get. All pilots are compensated fairly for their work, just like everyone else with a job.""

LMAO, she is probably a "pilot" in the Army flying those little "airplanes" with their "autopilots"

Man I love this country...

Airline travel is a HORRIBLE experience to begin with...that is why nobody gets tipped. So I would not start asking for tips...especially as a pilot because it would be just another reason to lower the base pay.

Because the extent of interaction passengers have with their pilots is (maybe) a greeting when they get on the airplane and a (maybe) a valediction on the way off?

None of these people you mention are skilled laborers at the level we are, that's why!!!! Your barber has gone through a few weeks of barber school. Waiters/waitresses don't generally go to school. Bartenders may have a whole 2 week course. Flight attendants get a few weeks of training.

Pilots have to go through years of specialized training and licensing. We are professionals along the lines of doctors, lawyers, funeral directors, etc. We are not barbers, waiters or flight attendants. We are above tips. Professionals do not ask for or accept tips.

EXACTLY!!! This begging for tips only lowers our profession even more. What would you think of a doctor with a tip jar in the waiting room?

The problem is pay, not tipping.

That's a pretty rich statement coming out of somebody that is a "Hopeful B1900 FO".

Now, I don't have ANYTHING against that airplane, OR the pilots that fly it. It's not secret, the guys flying that type of equipment work the most for the least pay.

But if you were to go from "hopeful" to employed today, I'd like to see what your viewpoint is in a year. As well as your mentality on the "price we pay for having fun". Fun is a byproduct, but for many, this is a career.

There's a lot of guys at GIA that seemed to have your viewpoint.

Stop comparing us to doctors, jesus christ! Your a pilot, and you parents probably paid for your education, flight school and you love wearing your uniform to show the world your a Skilled (professional) Pilot. Get over yourself, were are all working stiffs and some of us have a lot of responsibilities such as kids, mortgages and plenty of other worries. I am not about to let pride take me down, if someone wants to throw a $20 bill my way I will not say "no thanks, I am a professional". And nobody is begging, its just a concept. When you grow up youll learn to check your pride at the door!

Again, were not doctors! Do you think your a doctor? Did you spend 8 years in school and then an internship? No. I didn't think so. You fly a Saab, wake up. And who's begging? Your Colgan pay sure is close to a doctor or lawyer's salary.

Why not run the paxs bags down the stairs for them, maybe you will get a $1 for your effort. Unlike you, I do not feel it is someone elses responsability to subsidize my income.

And yes you got me, I think I am a doctor and my Colgan pay is just under that of a lawyer or a doctor. :rolleyes: