Yeah, but Midwest operates in some sort of dysfunctional vacuum. No other airline its size is in business. And adding 170's actually helped with issues like range. The 717 was the worst possible choice when it was made. To think an airline has a fleet with a range shorter than its regional partners is laughable. I agree with you, just so you know. Midwest overall, I think, is always kind of a bad comparison.

 

Simple case of supply and demand?

 

I'm sure theres a forum post for the 100,000 wall-street and silicon valley guys saying pretty much the same thing.

Why are pilots expendable? Thats an easy answer. 30 million dollar airplane + 60K pilot+20K FO+30K flight attendant+ 5 million worth of fuel annually+ 250 MILLION worth of executive pay and bonuses, I mean come on...SOMETHING's gotta go, right? God forbid loyal and hardworking executives should have to be held the slightest bit accountable for thier malfeseance and incompetence. I mean they should be the LAST people to go! They have to stick around and clean up the mess they made. Considering the fact that they make in one year what the rest of us will ever hope to scrape together in our lifetimes, we have to cut these guys some pretty serious slack. We wouldn't want them working overtime right? On second thought let's have them working as little as possible, it will probably help the company.

Pilots are expendable because they have bills to pay, food to buy, and rent to make and they can barely afford to picket. It would be nice to have a massive workforce strike, it would really send a strong message. However, at the end of the day, pilots are paid so little that they can't afford to exhibit solidarity.

However, I don't think that the problem runs with just the airlines. We are facing a huge cultural problem in the U.S. and across the globe.

Case in point, a crack dealer gets busted, goes to Rikers Island for the night, gets a trial a few days later and get sent up the river in a speedy hearing and tries to survive his time in federal or state prison for 15-20 years. On the other hand, Madoff cons THOUSANDS of people, a several small countries GDP's worth of dollars gone, retirements evaporated, endowments halved, charitable organizations insolvent, and at least one tragic suicide. Madoff gets house arrest in his 7 million dollar east side apartment and a pretty lax curfew, a trial date is apparently not in sight, and he reportedly is pleasing insanity. HE'S TRYING TO GET OFF SCOT-FREE!?! What is the worst he can expect after his 13 month trial? 5-10 in a minimum security prison? Hardly a punishment fitting the crime considering the damage it caused.

So who was hurt the most in this case? The dozen crack addicts that frequented the dealer, or the thousands of people and organizations that gave thier money to a person that they had every reason to trust?

Let's face it guys, until we scream bloody murder and take a stand together, not simply against the executives of one company or another, but against the culture and society that allows this to happen, we will always be expendable from the janitor to the line pilot. We will be deemed less valuable because we add to society, while consuming fewer of its resources, while the executives are deemed more valuable because they add little, yet consume far more then they deserve. A little bass ackwards if you ask me.

 

Yeah, it's the man keeping us down. It has nothing to do with guys getting so deep in debt in order to get all their ratings. It probably has nothing to do with the fact that those guys have to take any job they can get for whatever amount it pays in order just to make the minimum interest payment on their debt and eat because they are not qualified to do anything else. Probably has nothing to do with the fact that there are hundreds of your friends ready to take your job and hours if you decide to make a stand because you think you deserve more money.

Ahh, how we learn market economics the hard way when we don't learn it in school.

 

I wonder if a regional pilot will still make the same in 2020...

 

As long as GoJet and those like you who work there still exist, we'll likely be making less.

 

There will always be someone to undercut you. If you get too expensive you will be replaced by the LEGACY AIRLINE that you fly for. Most regionals have been the stepping stone for future moves...a place to build time and experience.....and some choose or get stuck there for a wide range of excuses...whether it is their own choice because they are too old or have something on their record.

When the retirements kick back in....and they will...just check the retirement rates at the majors....alot of movement will happen again and alot of folks will just vote in a lesser paying contract to just serve their time before they leave. The majority will be a younger group.

 

Pilots will be expendable until some type of collective action is taken, which from reading the jabs on this forum will never happen. There are too many people that want to be pilots and they are willing to do it for almost nothing. I remember reading about how airline managers were trying to get a Captain to make 80k and a FO to make around 30K. Well in many cases they are almost there now. As long as pilots are willing to make $16hr, which is an embarrassment to the profession, there will be a large supply of pilots to choose from who will endure anything to fly a Canadian lawn dart. With the explosive regional growth in the last five years the number of pilots that will reach a "major" continues to shrink everyday. The major airlines have the regional guys right where they want them, fighting over flying (enter whipsaw). It may be idealistic but instead of fighting over which regional is better there needs to be collective action to improve conditions at the regional level because for a large number of pilots that is as far as they will progress. There are not enough mainline jobs for every RJ Captain to move up.

 

it sounds like you're sayin that pilots derive way too much job satisfaction , and therefore the income is low because they know we're a bunch of crackhead jet jockeys. Is this correct?

 

Pretty much...I think we're as bad as those aforementioned addicts...