Cleared To Dream > Home

..... I'm speechless.

 

ALPA Channel Player > Cleared To Dream

Thats a good start to my speechless-ness. Rock music, flashy graphics, "you looking for a career with blah blah blah!?"

Looks like an ad for an overpriced fly-by-night pilot factory. I doubt you'll see associations for medical, legal, engineering and other highly skilled professions creating videos (ads) like this. Maybe your local car mechanic school or ITT Tech.

 

Future Union Due Payers

 

And at rock bottom regional wages. ALPA must be spooling up for the impending pilot shortage.

 

There's a "How do you like our website?" survey at the bottom of the home page. Its trending 50% dislike~

 

now it's 74% as of September 21, 2010 at 2300Z

 

I voted "Dislike" but I thought they were talking about the job......my bad!

 

Yea that's pretty bad. That is something you'd expect as a recruitment video for a ramp job at the airport, or a website of some shady pilot academy, not for a profession.

 

It's at 80% now.

Perhaps ALPA should focus on fostering unity and contracts that allow a decent income for the investment in the profession and good quality of life. If it represents a professional group of pilots, then the pilots should be compensated and treated as professionals.

If anything ALPA should be educating new pilot wannabees on the true professional life of a regional pilot, which they will likely be doomed to for over a decade. Perhaps if they scared more people away from being professional pilots the supply would actually decrease allowing for higher wages due to an actual scaricity of pilots instead of the forcast pilot shortage we keep hearing about.

 

Exactly. The most successful unions are those who have created significant barriers to entry for their professions and significant reputation of being highly skilled professionals.


For example....

Do you really think it takes all the dental school and certification to do most work dentists do? I doubt it. But the ADA has made it pretty dang tough to become a dentist and therefore you don't have as much supply for the demand. More stable career, better pay, better respect. Plus the ADA is so good at it they've even got most convinced people they're not a union. Plus I can't remember ever seeing a flashy video set to rock music about dreaming to one day be a dentist. Sure it may not be the most exciting job, but I think a lot of us dream of being able to be home every single night, make a livable wage, and have some job security. Thats what makes a career worth having and a successful family life... the cool shots of regional jets busting through clouds doesn't really do it much for you for long.

The Dentist comparison can be repeated for doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, etc. If ALPA and pilots in general grouped to make it happen, we could have careers with similar stability, pay, and security. I can confidently say I think being an airline captain is just as high of an achievement as obtaining any of those careers... now we just need to stop selling it like its one step above an associates degree in paralegal from the nearby community college.

You shouldn't be "cleared to dream" for this career. You should be prepared to know that if you're willing to work really really hard, meet stringent requirements to compete to even get into pilot school, see most of your companions wash out, and dedicate your life to it.. that you'll have a career thats worth it in the end.

Then again, this is the same ALPA that has accepted scabs and Tim Martins back into employment at ALPA carriers, as long as they're willing to pay dues.