I got home later tonight than usual, but just in time to catch NBC news reporting the 950 F word, followed by a report that UAL sent some "top agents" to learn a few things from a mouse. Seems a bit strange to me, but then I'm not a management type.

My late brother-in-law (who used to be a UAL customer service director at SEA) is turning in his grave to see his beloved airline going to pot. I met many of you at his memorial service and if I can do anything to help, please let me know. Even if it's just venting.

What's next? Furlough until there are no mainline pilots left. Park mainline aircraft until those are gone too. Use regional aircraft and pilots for all the flying?

This is getting ridiculous. This is the decline of a respected profession. I hope this trend gets corrected.

Quick question: How do European airlines afford to pay their pilots while we can't?

I thought McCain was a pilot hater. That's a pretty strange position for someone like that to have. Why would he care?

If I were in the bottom 950 at UAL right now I would conspire with the other 950 (without union knowledge) to not show up for work anymore. I say F mgmt. It sucks for the other guys left but at this rate how long will United still be around. I can see them re-entering Ch11 and selling both widebodies and intl routes to CAL & DAL to fund their pensions. Best of luck to all airline furloughees that have been put on the street the last few months.

Im pretty sure McCain's son flies for AA or did.

National Pilot Strike...all or nothing, unions be damned.....lets do it.

Didn't McCain comment that airline pilots were overpaid? I had also heard that he wasn't on the pilots side, so it surprises me that his son is a pilot. That being said, I have always had great respect tor him as someone who was willing to stand up to his own political party when he thought that it was the right thing to do. He should have been our President in 2000. But I fear that those supporting him will continue to keep us on our present course. I fear that it is time for a radical change.

While I worked in college and after on the Reagan-Bush '84 campaign and the Bush-Quayle '88 Campaign, I am disgusted as a registered Republican (as many pilots are) in the direction President Bush and the Republican Party have taken this country. The middle class has been decimated through the one-sided, pro-big business attitude of the Republican Party. If you doubt me, you only need to look as far as Googling the Kentucky River Decision by the NLRB, the new bankruptcy laws, and the new FDIC changes... all favoring "tha man" and not you. The rich are getting richer; You only have to look as far as the fractional industry for proof of that.

It's time for a real third party: We shouldn't have to choose between our guns and national security, and protecting our jobs.

It will be a difficult decision for me this November, and as a Republican... That's sad.

OK, sorry for the thread hijack.


P.S.- On Amtrack in LAX last month, I ran into one of McCain's fellow P.O.W.s Captain Charles Plumb. I had been to one of his motivational speeches "Who packed your parachute". Another upstanding guy.

If you factor in the significantly higher cost of living in the areas where those foreign carriers are based, the pay is not really any better.

Just like in the US, there are a few foreign carriers thay pay great, several that pay okay, and many that pay crap.

Grass is definitely not any greener.

Unless Nader gets elected (which would be a huge disaster in so many other ways) don't expect any help from ANY candidate. Lest anyone think Barry would come to our rescue it would do well to remember how the last Democrat "did" pilot "labor" in '98. For those (and that's most) not familiar with the story, after Clinton refused to intervene on behalf of UPS during the Teamsters strike, we (UPS) came off the back burner requesting release from mediation so we could "force UPS' hand. At any rate, as the story goes Bruce Lindsey (Clinton's Chief Counsel) summoned our leadership (IPA) to D.C and told them not only would we NEVER be allowed to strike, we would NEVER even be released and that we'd better kiss UPS and make up. This from a "labor friendly" administration?

In reality what the Bill administration did was worse than Bush or the other Democrat to use a PEB (Johnson) did to airline "labor". At least Bush and Johnson had the stones to actually declare a PEB, while Clinton & Co. effectively gutted the RLA and paid off their huge corporate donor UPS leaving us with little more than our Johnson in our hand.

We're on our own kids, but at least Barry will raise our taxes...just the kind of "change" I need about now.

How can the government help? Holding CEO types accountable would be a start. Maybe our government could provide oversight when a company is laying off employees. Better yet we live in a democracy let the people losing their jobs vote on whether management deserves a raise. That should solve that issue. I heard the BK judge for Frontier did away with the proposed compensation packages for upper management. I was impressed by that comment. The economy is obviously a critical issue maybe a little oversight on who gets all the money in hard-times is in order. I think 950 employees trying to put food on the table and pay their mortgage is a lot better for stimulating the economy than 10 putting their money into retirement accounts.

I think the government could do a lot by moving the TSA to the border to protect all of us in the U.S. (I know I will hear some humor on that comment). Instead of having 6 of them stack bins and 1 watch the passenger metal detector and the other 1 watching the metal detector for bags. Maybe, we could just give the budget of the TSA to the border patrol. I have nothing against the TSA and most of them are friendly if you toss them a smile and say hi. I just think where the govt placed them is a finger plugging up the dike on a much bigger problem. I have a friend scarred for life by an illegal immigrant driving drunk; no insurance, no license, no legal reason for being here. Now we pay for the illegal in a jail cell until he is deported. Luckily, my friend didn’t lose his medical or his life, but he did lose some motor skills in an arm and months out of his life.

On another note, I take a urine test to keep my job while people on welfare get a hand-out with no medical requirements that I know of. Make it a requirement on passing a urine test we could cut that budget significantly. Then the working class could get some of their money back for social security. Plus, if they didn’t get any welfare they couldn’t pay the drug peddlers. I am sure it gets worse before it gets better. I think it is time to put it on center line and actually put it down in the TDZE. There are too many politicians missing the mark. I want another candidate for President (no more Demon-crats or Rejectlicans). Honestly, is it too much to ask that the government stop discriminating against the working class for people on welfare. If you can’t stay clean you get no green. Sounds like a political slogan. This might also help with rising healthcare problem to. If you chose to kill yourself with “under the counter” cleaning products you should be a Darwin award winner (bit harsh I know). Maybe a better campaign would be “Want green get clean” the working class supports you.

Sorry just a long vent!!! I support UTEDRUMMER’s comment. The economy is already in the pooper might as well bring it to a halt to get people focused. This career is in the porcelain throne and we all are swirling around with a few big brown management stink ships dragging us down.

My family’s prayers go out to those of you getting the F bomb dropped on you. I have been there before, be strong.