Shiit If I was making 10 year CA pay I prolly still wouldnt be driving the car I want, or living in the huge Studio in Manhatten with the 99ft Plasma TV :), and have enough cash to go to bars and by rediculously hot girls 15$ drinks. Anybody else drop the "Express" when people ask them what airline they Fly for hehehe, come on be honest

Im not gonna lie, I do:D Especially at the bar. Usually it just makes things easier. I get tired of hearing people say "Oh, so you fly the puddle jumpers?". Yeah, I guess if you consider IAH-ONT, YYZ or Nassau a puddle, I guess I do! Thats one hell of a puddle! I used to say ExpressJet but that just confused people even more.

Tell 'em nope, just mainline routes with little airplanes.

I am kidding!

Try telling someone you fly US Air Express operated by AirMidwest which is wholy owned by Mesa airlines. Granted they usually have no idea blows from an employee standpoint but they are certainly confused about what you do.

Its nice to talk about negotiating for great new contracts and higher pay, but the sad reality is that even if you are successful negotiating a great contract, the courts have now proven that a company doesnt need uphold its end of the bargain. Dont believe me, ask a MESABA driver.

I was exaggerating about the 15k a year, but so many people took it to be serious that it must be believeable nowadays...

I drop the "express" all the time. It just makes things easier. People start asking questions and then they think you are a liar because they've never heard of an Embraer, or an airliner made in Brazil. in their minds they start thinking that it must be made out of bamboo or woven palm fronds.

Jeez, I haven't compared the whole scale, but we actually beat that for my seat!

Oh, but we will be SURE to have our pay cut soon, since we signed our contract less than a week before 9/11 blah, blah, blah. Keep telling yourselves that, MGMNT!

A new administration in DC should help the working man much more than the last one hurt them.

Do you *really* think a Democrat in the White House would do a damn bit of good for labor?

Don't want to start a debate on politics, but I've often wondered if who is in the white house has anything to do with the airlines, etc. The airlines boomed under Clinton, but under Bush have gone downhill. Is it coincidence, or is there something to it?

The airline business has always been very cyclical, much like the construction industry.

Your "clinton" boom was actually a normal upswing that was further boosted by the economy, which was benefitting from the post-cold war re-alignment of the defense industry.

The airline crash in 2001 was in reality a natural airline downtown driven by the mild recession that started in 2000...this already-in-progress downturn simply fell down the stairs on 9/11 .