Airline Pilot Central Forums - Christmas Meltdown

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MainlineHopeful (Post 3560355)

Just finished OE, and thinking about jumping ship. The long term repercussions of this will not be good. Always wanted to be at SWA, and they got us super drunk on the kool aid during training, but this is definitely not what I (thought) I signed up for.

Stupid to leave?

No.

I was stupid to stay.

When I saw the writing on the wall back in 2007, the delusional kool-aid was so strong in so many of the guys I flew with, I figured I must be the one with the problem, not this place. So, I didn't listen to my gut. I should've listened. Not doing so was a major life mistake.

You're not stupid to leave.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MainlineHopeful (Post 3560355)

I just started and am having the same feelings. Was really excited about SWA, always heard great things, thought I was making the best choice for my family. Not how I wanted to start at the last company of my career.

Quote:

Originally Posted by El Peso (Post 3560359)

Yes. As bad as it seems right now, there will not be any long term repercussions.

Maybe if you bring back the Hot Pants?

All those thinking of leaving, if you have options I’d leave too. I had a discussion with the family and will think it over. It’s a tough one for me since I’m so close to upgrade.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MainlineHopeful (Post 3560355)

I wouldn't leave over the long term repercussions. The average American remembers things like Dory. There will be apologies. There will be marketing campaigns. There will be sales. There will be freebies. And voila...

Without looking up, do you remember the last time JetBlue had a meltdown? How about Spirit? Delta? American?

Yeah... by next Christmas, it'll be forgotten. But until then, get used to hearing "we'll never fly with you again" diatribe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WHACKMASTER (Post 3560280)

Do you think they’d offer you another interview?

You could be a captain in a year.

Or the short upgrades could stall and you could be stuck commuting reserve, living in a crash pad indefinitely.

Crystal balls and airlines don’t mix. Just ask everyone here who made choices 7-15 years ago based on current info, and feel its all different now.

The crazy truth in aviation is you don’t really know until its all over.

Delta guy here. Impressive meltdown and it really does suck for you I'm sure. But it'll just be a tiny blip a year from now. All these airlines are so cheap and run on such outdated technology and processes that it could happen to any of us. And it'll probably be Delta (or United, American, Alaska, JetBlue, Spirit etc) next time. Passengers forget (and have no other options anyway) and everyone just moves on until the next meltdown where everyone is outraged for a week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZapBrannigan (Post 3560287)

I got lucky. Commuted in off line.
Two reroutes on day one.
Two cancellations on day two and ferried into be into position for day three.
Day three went fine even going through Denver.
Commuted home off line.

On day two we were delayed due to visibility in Southern California. The dispatcher and I wanted to push as soon as we saw an improving trend, so we boarded….and the visibility took longer than we expected to improve. The “A” FA (whose Dad is a Captain, and who is learning to fly herself) kept our guests entertained with Christmas music, jokes, games, and organized cockpit tours for the kids (and a few kids at heart). We sent many kick tails that day!

Bought dinner and drinks for two crews on night one. On night two I bought for the FO and another FO who was missing his crew. We ordered Dunkin Donuts and coffee on the app for the crew on day two and picked it up after we got through security. And we gave away a few hundred bucks worth of Starbucks gift cards to everyone we ran across from rampers, to Ops agents, to FAs - and especially to my commute crews. Even got one in return from a kind customer.

The key to happiness is commuting off line. 😉

So not a horror story, but I think we needed to hear some good news in the midst of the apocalypse we are seeing out there now. I learned something that somehow I missed over the last nine years of slam clicking. I learned that this company employs good people who will work tirelessly on behalf of our guests. I learned that a little recognition goes a long way. And I learned that there actually IS a somewhat unique culture here, but we can’t count on management to foster it. It’s up to us. Sometimes that means taking out your wallet, sure. But oftentimes it could be as simple as taking the gate checked bags down to the ramp to save tired rampers a trip. Or telling FAs “I know you’re not being paid right now because the door is open. I’m sorry about that. Here’s my phone, order anything you want on the ChickFilA app and I’ll run upstairs and grab it for you.”. Or even as little as reminding the crew, “We don’t fly hungry. Say the word and I’ll throw the flag and make sure we get food”. I never realized the culture was real…and I never realized that it probably wasn’t real to me because I never chose to participate in it.

So it was a tough Christmas and it’s probably going to be a tough New Years. But if we take care of one another (and find another way to commute to and from work), we’ll probably be ok… (provided we stay in business. #Eeyore)

Cool of the day. Bravo sir.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WHACKMASTER (Post 3560280)

Do you think they’d offer you another interview?

They have been this past year. They’ll ask about it in the interview so have an acceptable answer.