47dog

No reason to be nervous. I'm flying on the CAL side. I go to work do my job and go home. I don't go out with any CAL crew members , because I don't trust them. I don't comment on the contract or SLI, just say I've been busy with my kids and haven't stayed current on stuff. I've had some mouthy Capts (2), that wanted to start an argument about the SLI, I refused to get into it. Most CAL crew members think that CAL is the crown jewel of aviation, I actually feel sorry fir them, cause its a crap hole. But then again, aviation pretty much sucks anymore.
Just watch what you say at work, you don't know who's a scab (many wear pins), FAs love CAL and get pi$$ed if you think it isn't the greatest. They manage by force here and they hire weak personalities on the Cal side that will take the beatings.

liquid

You're free to quit, as your fellow UAL pilot already "pressed to test" that button.

Let us know when you return if the "crap hole" is any different.

cadetdrivr

You aren't the GUM chief pilot by any chance?

oldmako

Liquid,

While I will allow this his summation was harsh and lacked diplomacy, it was his opinion of the difference between the OLD United, and CAL. Your response is exactly what Glen Tilton used to say when we pointed out how UAL had slipped under his watch. The GOAL ought to be to improve working conditions and to improve the contract, not learn how to toil under a substandard one. So before you chastise him for his opinion, realize that he's using a different yardstick than you are. "Why don't you quit" is a knee jerk response, but a jerky response.

We have plenty of guys at sUAL who are a pain in the rear to fly with and tote El Heffes water. They're the same guys who did so under previous sUAL CEOs. This week I boarded a stifling hot 757 with a perfectly operable APU. Well my, didn't we save some gas! Never mind that the pax were all looking at one another with the big Whisky Tango Fox expression. This captain doesn't have UAL "culture" and is Jeffs type of guy. They're the guys who fly junk, wait for the van, accept wholesale changes to SOP with zero training, pop the brake early, and generally allow our contract, to be trampled by the company. Give UAL an inch every day, and they will take a mile over time.

Prior to UAL, I was a long time commuter puke. As a new hire on IOE I was astonished at how GREAT I was treated at UAL. During breakfast the Captain was good-naturedly complaining about his meal. It was amazing compared to what I was used to and I thought he was nuts. He caught me looking at him with amazement and said to me, "I know what you're thinking! But, the day you stop complaining is the day they start taking stuff away!"

How right he was. Probably some of the best advice I got on IOE. WE MUST not allow them to run roughshod over us. Our culture is worth fighting for and 47dog is doing so.

James is proud.

liquid

Mako,

Thank you for a level headed response. I know it's passé and cool to come on here and completely and utterly trash CAL. Any idea how old it gets? How many posts are there trashing the UAL pilots directly? One of your own: "They manage by force here and they hire weak personalities on the Cal side that will take the beatings." or " I don't go out with any CAL crew members , because I don't trust them." or " I actually feel sorry fir them, cause its a crap hole." I read the other UAL board, it's the same rhetoric over and over.

To say we have vast cultural differences is a huge understatement. The CAL contract is defended everyday by hard working people in the CALMEC, the contract sucks I fully agree. If 47 is truly unhappy, taking it out on the CAL pilots is inappropriate and he IS free to leave. He won't be quiting UAL and he can come back to greener pastures in the future.

liquid

mccurtool

Excellent Post +1

oldmako

It's a two sided coin and both sides are tarnished. Perhaps because we have more pilots online its lopsided. But having been on here for the last year I've read plenty of anti UAL rubbish. For the good of all of us, all of it needs to stop. But the differences need to be highlighted when they point the dirty finger at the company. Captains need to take the lead on both sides of the fence and not allow themselves to allow cs or maint push us around. It has to start somewhere, and it has to be consistent. Fly professionally and demand professional support.

As an aside, I just read about a UAL guy at CAL who returned from a fairly long period of sick leave. His PC had expired and when he returned had to start at the school house. They told him to hop in and fly his PC. He asked about getting some stick time since some of the SOPs had apparently changed during his absence. They told him fly the PC or quit. He quit.

They then told him he couldn't just quit CAL, he was going to be fired from both CAL AND UAL. UAL ALPA got involved that didn't work out the way they wanted. That pesky UAL culture again. The fight is with management, not CAL pilots...well, except the scabs. Yours AND ours.

skippy

Maybe we can trade some like scarves like the fas do to feel more "united"

I agree, the standard cliche of " we need to heal as one pilot group or die two of them" stands out.

Yesterday is gone and its what we do today that contributes to our collective and hopefully prosperous future.

Skippy

Slammer

Not sure what you were doing prior to being hired by L-CAL, but you can make a better case for your viewpoint about management, if you wouldn't generalize about 5K pilots and their pedigree.

liquid

I read that council's blast mail as well, I'd like to say I am shocked... I've had a front row seat to a Section 19, their MO hasn't changed.

Any chance of you running for an MEC position?

liquid