Do you guys ever actually fly?

[leprechaun]

My God! Do you guys ever work. Do you have to polute every thread. It's not all about you ya know.

If I read one more thing about east MEC vs wesy MEC I think I'm gonna.............

 

[N965VJ]

Welcome to your tenth day of posting on USAviation!

 

[AAA73Pilot]

My God! Do you guys ever work.

Actually going to work this weekend. With my laptop. 😀 Have a nice day!!!

 

[Doc]

Is that a self portrait

 

[tahitigirl]

Yes of course I fly. About 16 days for 65hrs of time. I sure wish we would get paid by the duty hour vs. the flight hour. What genius came up with this system? How many other people put in 14hrs. for 6hrs. pay?

 

[twoturnin]

EXCELLENT POINT TG-----I stopped screaming about 16-20 day months for 85 hrs------ex PSA Capt/ALPO official--now retired ----told me if the pilot group got productive trips we would lay off 300 to 500 pilots --ALPO strikes again--no tellin how many F/A's ---ooooooooooops----BTW---ex Allegany and ex PIA and ex PSA pilot trip builders told me face to face you dont need rigs for productive trips----they each said thats total BS----so we just shut up and fly our 18 to 20 hr 4 day trips-----ahhhhh the good old days of 12 day's a month----that was 24 yrs ago with a different ALPO mindset.

 

[sharktooth]

EXCELLENT POINT TG-----I stopped screaming about 16-20 day months for 85 hrs------ex PSA Capt/ALPO official--now retired ----told me if the pilot group got productive trips we would lay off 300 to 500 pilots --ALPO strikes again--no tellin how many F/A's ---ooooooooooops----BTW---ex Allegany and ex PIA and ex PSA pilot trip builders told me face to face you dont need rigs for productive trips----they each said thats total BS----so we just shut up and fly our 18 to 20 hr 4 day trips-----ahhhhh the good old days of 12 day's a month----that was 24 yrs ago with a different ALPO mindset.

Rigs are simply a penalty to the company for the company not building efficient (more block-time per day) trips. It has nothing to do with featherbedding or any of the other canards put out by the company, and, sometimes, sigh, the union. Rigs are simply a guarantee of good faith, something lacking ever since rigs, for all intents and purposes, went away.

Also, if you are only flying block-time trips, then making the trips more productive would not require less crew. Same block-time, same need for crew, assuming everyone flies the same.

I would suggest that if the number of days worked in a month is important, that a guarantee be based on a fifteen day month, for instance, and, anything above that is paid at time and a half or some other such modifier.

 

[FlyGuyBWI]

My God! Do you guys ever work. Do you have to polute every thread. It's not all about you ya know.

If I read one more thing about east MEC vs wesy MEC I think I'm gonna.............

Great PIC, I think I'll do my Jack-O-Lantern just like that this year. Gosh, there are more ideas on here than on Martha Stewart!!

 

[PHL]

Yes of course I fly. About 16 days for 65hrs of time. I sure wish we would get paid by the duty hour vs. the flight hour. What genius came up with this system? How many other people put in 14hrs. for 6hrs. pay?

I would venture to say every one of your passengers who is traveling for business.

Do you think we (your business traveling passengers) are being paid for our time to drive to the airport, go through the check in process, sit in a gate area, wait out cancellations and delays, circle the destination in a holding pattern, wait for a gate after landing, shlep to the rental car counter and drive to the client/conference? That's roughly the equivalent of a duty day for us when we travel. This can repeat itself each day of a work week, or if we're lucky we can settle for a few days in a city before doing it all over again (not including the final trip home).

If I work at a client site for 40,50 or 60 hours in a week, I spend another 10, 20 or 30 in travel (depending where it is). That adds up to a lot more than 65 work hours per month.

Here's one crucial difference between me and you. I'm not complaining. I took this job knowing exactly what my pay is based on. So did you.

 

[pitguy]

I work so much I don't truly keep track of it (60 to 70 hours per week, maybe more at times). My job is more of a lifestyle. At least you get days off. I take calls and emails even while on vacation. I travel about 40% of the time. Work all day while on the road and then come back to the hotel and work some more. Shut up or quit. Freaking babies! You voted for the crap and sold your souls to get it.

 

[flygirl74]

At least you get effing paid. Some of our reserves get 17k A YEAR putting up with your snooty @ss. Yeah, we signed up for this.....8 years ago. Are you making 1992 wages after putting in 8 years?? Plus you are getting hotel points, rental car points and other freebies we never qualify for. We are the minority. Everyone hates us and blames us for everything...stuff we have no control of.

 

[pitguy]

flygirl74,
Do you mean to tell me you get paid $17k per year? As a FA or pilot? Airways mainline or express?

 

[Travelpro72]

Our job and a traveling business man are NOT the same. When you are at the airport you can have a beer eat and relax before your flight. WE cannot. When you are flying all over the world you can relax in your seat (harder to do in coach ) and have drinks or sleep. WE cannot When you are at your hotel in between meetings or at the end of your day you most likely can order room service or put your breakfast, lunch and dinner as a company expense. WE cannot. As one poster noted you get points for your flying, car rental and hotel. WE do not. We get NONE of that. So, NO our jobs are NOT the same. While we all agreed to this job and its challenges they have become MOST severe over the past 6 years to NO FAULT of our own. Many of us had no choice/voice in what we have today. A judge in BK and the company threatening to throw your contract you fought hard for in the trash. Let's just move past this little comparison shall we?

 

[tahitigirl]

I don't think you can compare any other "normal" job to being a f/a and pilot. I'm a reserve f/a in my 10th year with this company. I get 11 sometimes 12 days (NFL day) off a month. The company as my husband always says owns me the rest of the month. I don't know where I'm going until the day before if I'm lucky to get a trip from future and if not I might get a call from daily at 0500 for a trip that goes out at 1400 or even better a trip that's leaving in under 2hrs (yes a quick call). I've never held holidays off and I don't usually get weekends off and I can't get vacation in any month of the summer. I don't give up my off days to fly etb trips so I've received my base 73hr. pay and no more. It's not unsual to get called in to deadhead and work one leg and get paid about 1hr. or to be called in and get a show no go for 2hrs. pay. When I started this job we had min. days that payed 5hrs. you knew that if you work a day you would aleast get paid 5 hrs. now we have 1 for 3.5. so if you get called in to do a RDU turn you get paid about 2hrs. for a days work. I don't rack up hotel points nor do I get to pick the hotel I stay in. I don't get a company car to drive to and from the airport nor do I get to write off my car and gas. With all that said the reason I'm around is that I still like my job.

 

[PHL]

....With all that said the reason I'm around is that I still like my job.

I guess at the end of the day, that's all that matters. Our hotel, car and airline "points" are a nice perk, but that's the last reason in the world that we travel for business. When we want to use them, they're rarely available on the times that we can best take advantage of them anyway!