There is no real way to fix that in a seniority based system. Would you have him takeaway an upgrade from another pilot at a different airline? People talk about the national seniority list but its not realistic. People should be rewarded for taking gambles in their career. Someone who went to JetBlue when it was first starting shouldn't have someone push them down in seniority because American furloughs.

 

I didn't make any of the suggestions you mentioned in your reply, I just gave an opinion. You make valid points, but surely you would acknowledge that an experienced pilot with years in the industry having to start over at ground zero is pretty ludicrous. There is something fundamentally wrong with the industry wrt this issue as well as many others.

 

Yea but the alternative ( I think we all know what that is.) is far worse.

I would far rather have to meet the consequences of my own failures as well as reap the benefits of my own success than live in a world of regulated mediocrity.

 

Not familiar with the "alternative" you are referring to, but agree it would be hard to come up with a system that doesn't infringe on a free capitalistic society....or whats left of it. News flash, we already live in a world of regulated mediocrity. I don't think picking the wrong company is a "failure", conversely, I don't believe reaping the benefits of your own success is a result of some great decision making. It's just bad or good timing. I guess it's better to be lucky than good.

 

Accountants go from one company to another and take thier resume' with them. This improves thier starting pay. Why not pilot's? What's the difference? I cannot think of a single profession that starts over at starting wages when the employee changes companies. As a 14 year pilot, qualified as a captain on two different types of aircraft , and a check airman, qualified to fly into Aspen CO, I should somehow be started at first year pay and quality of life like any other new hire? Insane.

 

This isn't directed at SnoJet, just an observation...

I've always thought it funny that sometimes the senior guys are quite happy to keep all the good stuff for themselves, while screwing the folks at the bottom. They then turn around and say that they're stuck at ABC airline, because if they go to XYZ airline, they're gonna be treated like crap at the bottom.

The unfortunate fate of the Comair guys should be a warning. Those CA's are now making a fourth of what they used to earn, flying the same airplanes. It would be nice if we didn't eat our young in aviation.

 

It's no secret that usually the senior top 1/3rd of a pilot group negotiates for one group...the senior top 1/3rd (with some small scraps for the bottom feeders), which is another inherent problem in this industry, in addition to starting over with another airline in terms of pay, etc. It's the old stale adage, "I didn't have that when I was Jr". I don't think that the fate of Comair will serve as any kind of warning, unfortunately, just like back in 2008 the bankruptcy of Aloha, ATA, (insert company), etc., didn't serve as any kind of warning. IMHO we are all to wrapped around the axle with the small issues (like age 65) vs. the bigger picture like pay and job stability and security. While we are all looking at the issues in our industry (company) through a straw, the international community is making an even bigger move to change the landscape of flying as we know it, which will make these other issues of "debate" seem pretty petty.

 

Are you saying you didn't know what the pay scale was when you took your job?

Not really, if you consider what the Conservatives ran on in the last election. Government out of everything except your girlfriend's uterus.

That is the key question, IMHO.

Listen, fellas. Age 60 is never coming back. You can choose to be bitter the rest of your lives about what you "lost" or just accept it and move on. We all stalled. But, whining about it won't bring Age 60 back.

The essential problem isn't the retirement age. Its the fact that Major airline jobs are scarce and the applicant pool far exceeds the seats. So a whole herd of pilots who thought they would be flying 747s to Singapore will have their retirement flight on a CRJ to Albany.

 

I knew what the retirement age was.

 

Rules and laws change all the time. It wasn't all that long ago that interracial marriage was illegal.

So, what's your point? If its that Age 60 was the law when you got hired, should you be forced to retire at 60? After all, that was the law when you got hired?

Using that logic, only someone who is less than 5 years old TODAY should be allowed to fly to Age 65. Sorry, it doesn't work that way.