tzadik

a'la post uno...

its begun: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...1&hpv=national

exwaterski

Well I can't say the guy didn't do his homework.. he probably did a lot of research reading these boards. The question is what does this mean? Business travelers have always griped about "commuters".. nothing new there. They also usually aren't the ones buying the ticket and no matter how much they might grumble they keep coming back because after all, they're traveling on business (read: they have no choice). Any serious attempt to ban code sharing would be met with the ATA, the RAA, and every single airline CEO on capital hill tomorrow crying that without the "tool" of code sharing they could not possibly survive and many small towns would lose their air service (which happen to be located in the districts of the politicians who oversee the airlines). We're not talking about making small changes, we're talking about a sweeping overhaul that would transform the industry in to a much smaller one with less service (and less pilots for those of you playing at home) and much higher fares (sound familiar?). Don't get me wrong I'm all for it if they can pull it off but unless the government is prepared to basically underwrite the entire airline industry I think this "movement" will likely fizzle. Because IMO that the only way everybody gets everything they want (low fares, frequency, maintaining air service to BFE) is with heavy regulation and heavy subsidies. The public has a short memory and the CEO's and the politicians know that. They will sit there on their perch and proclaim "Southwest seems to be doing just fine therefore there's nothing wrong with the system you guys just need to be more like Southwest!" until the public has forgotten and moved on. Case and point: Remember all the hybrids and small cars people were clamoring for last year when it was all about the mpg's? The second oil prices dropped people went right back to buying large trucks and SUVs leaving many dealers stuck with a glut of hybrids and no buyers. Never underestimate the apathy and fickleness of the American public.

Lowlevel

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If EVERY PILOT in the US (yes,even you crusty old timers) stopped flying, even for one day, the country would stop. In this day and age, it would probably cost so many companies so much money in lost deals and so on, when many are on the edge of existence, that those companies may die, which is sad but makes a point. I know ALPA can't say "Strike" and they never would anyway, so there has to be another way to set a date and so forth. The shutdown of airlines for a day would bring certain attention to the issues of pilot pay, QOL, and safety, that it could not be ignored. In the military, if a plane crashed, the entire squadron is grounded and causes of the accident addressed, be it maintenance, training, etc. If it was a crew error, then there was training involved to make sure another incident is prevented. If it was maintenance, then maintenance crews were retrained. At an airline, you have a crash and many passengers die, and what happens? Business as usual, as you fly over your friend's crash site a few hours after everyone died. STOP! Just stop for one moment and look. Look at your company, look at your aircraft, look at your employees and their lives, and ask yourself "What can I do to make this company safer and better for my employess (crews, maintenance, ramp, gate, etc)? What can I do to prevent this from ever happening again? Maybe something here is wrong that causes this to happen?" But management does not stop and look. That is until their paycheck is threatened.

One day people, just one day....can make all the difference in the world. There may be pilots out there with their fresh new commercial rating, dying to get a job, but there is no magical tree of 767 captains, 757 captains, or even Saab captains. Management can't replace EVERYONE. If EVERYONE stuck together, things would happen. If just a bunch of regional FO's does something, it would be "keep them until they can be replaced, then fire them." We are a brotherhood of rare humans, with a very unique occupation. The 30 year captain on the 777 may forget how it was when he was starting up that tall ladder to his post in the left seat of a Heavy. He was once down at the bottom. He needs to remember that. But, like I said, it would be very hard to convince guys up there to do anything to help anyone at the bottom.

tzadik

i would love to join a walkout for nothing more than just pure stickittodamoniosis but if even possible, not sure its the right time. with public perception waning almost as fast as the economy... we wouldn’t prevail in that PR nightmare. everybody is hurting and further desecration of hard times to prove a point wouldn’t exactly make us look like the victims.

i think the time is now to clean out our union reps and stock up on fellow aviators sympathetic to our cause. a fresh built in support structure is paramount

Lowlevel

I'm on the street with 2659 of my fellow furloughed pilots (# as shown in ALPA mag this month). Hard times? I got 'em!

Shootinstr8

There's your bumper sticker... "Ask me how much sleep I got last night" and "Ask me how much I get paid" or "Ask me how I qualify for food stamps".

All of these would be followed by a website (www.safeflyingNOW.com) with the facts and some form letters you could send to the mainline airlines PR boss and CEO.

flight0813

I'll quote my earlier statement above. Any comments?

⌐ AV8OR WANNABE

Sounds like a good idea even though I think you have too much faith in The One and his administration. Deep down they are all the same.

Why don't you write a draft letter and post it here so we can make additions to it?

Colnago

Geez, even more bad publicity for the regionals:

Terry Tozer: Airline with worst record in Europe - Commentators, Opinion - The Independent