Seems like MSNBC may be getting closer to the underlying issues. Not the best article ever, but still fairly good.

Continental crash shows safety may have price - Aviation- msnbc.com

Personally I think it should be re-titled: You get what you pay for...

Its a good article, but many of us already knew this. And I dont think it will change any thing.

Dont go to newsvine if you dont like people talking about things they know nothing about... lol

"we periodically review wages to ensure that we remain competitive"

i just about effing choked and died on my coffee after reading this. This has to be the biggest slap in the face and urinate on your grave quote ever dished out to anyone.
Im sure thats just why pinnacle management has been so eager to get a contract done with pilots. They are just trying to find you all a competitive wage.

Is anybody else getting really sick of reading comments from Roger Cohen??? I am starting to dislike him more than Pinnacle Management

With Roger Cohen being in the news more often, I am really learning to hate him with a passion.

I think we should furlough him.

I also found it interesting that Cohen was commenting on the effect of deregulation on mainline carriers.

"At the root of the problem, there needs to be changes on a cultural level at the regional airlines," Smith says. End Quote


I hope this means we will still have to read, write and speak english.

Sadly there is nothing false about that statement. Periodically, when the contract is up, they review wages to make sure the remain competitive.

Unfortunately for us pilots, it's been paycut after paycut, and the industry average has gotten lower and lower. So, when they review the wages they adjust them to be 'competitive.'

It's a backhanded way of saying we keep our (crew) costs in line because we can.

I don't see any reason why we should get paid less than a 2nd Lt. in the military.

This article, along with every other article that I've read in the last week on this subject omit a major point.

$21/hr sounds like a livable entry-level wage...except that it only will get you a 70-hour guarantee, and legally not more than 120 hours a month. The likes of pinacle management can say..."see, we pay our pilots $21 dollars an hour. That is average compensation."

Every pilot knows the truth.