What happened? You surely aren't suggesting that the pilot contract of 2000 was the reason for our Ch11 filing are you? Says who? MANAGEMENT??? I expect such ignorant thinking from flight attendants, but I'm always shocked when I see it from a fellow pilot.

Perhaps you forgot 9/11, SARS, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Recession, NASDAQ collapse, etc. etc.

Management got a few months of pressure from us in 2000 because they promised us an on-top, on-time contract and they didn't deliver. Much as our present management is failing to deliver what they promised. All it takes is a some HORRENDOUS weather, WAYYYY too much air traffic, a management hell bent on squeezing absolutely MAXIMUM utilization from the operation with NO contingency plan for the normal, every day problems that crop up, and you have the Summer of 2000.

 

Great post, SoCal. Especially with respect to the OP's story.

 

Oopsy. Sorry Airhoss... didn't see this before I posted.

 

Life Inc. - Dude, wanna make some big bucks? Try lifeguarding

Here is another comparison, lifeguards in Orange County Ca 200,000+
You guys are so underpaid for what you do and compared to the average skilled government employee it is eye watering. LAPD cop 5 years seniority $85,000.

The story of how you were duped into your current salaries is really not relevant now, it will be how you recover. The ATC controllers recovered and you will also, just as soon as the pilots have suffered enough and recognize it will take some sort of civil disobedience for a solution.

This guy who thinks the customer comes first is not going to help much during the Strike of 2013 (after the election, Obama's NMB will release you). The customers have no loyalty to an Airline. They will buy the cheapest ticket, one example was how quickly they came back in "85" for the post strike discount tickets. They never missed a beat after saying, they would NEVER FLY UNITED AGAIN...BS. Management knows, no matter how badly they treat the customer, about $3 will fix it, the cattle in the back is only a commodity to them.

Sorry I will miss the next rodeo, but I am getting close to the age where I can legally smoke pot and get away with groping a few hotties in the home, just like it use to be in High School.

 

NO worries bro.

The more this message is rubbed into iah's face the better. I can't even believe this guy is really a pilot. I'm thinking management shill or groupie is more likely.

 

Amen. We have a couple out there that simply astound me. One in particular in SFO who wrote a long letter to our union rag about how lucky we were to be pilots and if anything we are OVER compensated. This, of course, after our second round of paycuts left us near the bottom of the industry. I offered to take his share of any future payraises we get since he doesn't seem to think we deserve/need them. He didn't respond.

The funny part is these guys truly believe that they are operating on a higher cognizant plane (pun intended) than the 99% of us that "get it". Weird folks.

 

The most I ever made after 9 years being forced to fly 95 hours a month was $74k a year. 78 hours sounds like a dream.

With PBS they used to schedule everything to 1 hour of legality. Very dumb thing to do as things never go according to plan, weather or ATC delays meant the crew desk always were trying to put out fires somewhere in the system.

 

You speak wisdom. I swear, we did and still do I'm sure try to have a positive relationship with CM. Sadly, decisions made by them on such topics astound me time after time.

In 2000, I just sat back and watched it play out. Heck, had a pure line (same trip 4 times with same Capt....ah the good old days) with the first leg of the ID from ONT to ORD leaving at around 1500L. ALL 4 trips began with 3 to 4 hour EDCTs that didn't move. Not to mention, the day was already an IROP abortion. Canx flights all over the place, re-sched's, misconnects, you name it.

Another warning they failed to heed was the summer prior to the first round recalls. They were cautioned about the manning issue. Line and reserves maxing out a week prior to the end of the month, etc. Took them 3 months to finally realize the need to recall after huge cancellation numbers in June and July. Of course, gotta start the recall process, restaff TK, etc........

And they get bonuses for this type of performance!

Frats,
Lee

 

Okay I understand that we were undermanned and yes I do know the company was warned more than a few times. All that being said thats all you saw during the summer of 2000? Okay, sure.

 

Man, I just thought I was posting a good on ya story. Didn't think it would start an "Any Latest and Greatest at Delta" length thread.