Pilots At Mainline Have To Protect Themselves As

U

USA320Pilot

Veteran
May 18, 2003
8,175
1,539
Robbedagain:

Robbedagain said: "i'd like to see usa320 pilot work as a ramper or an inside agent at a mainline express city whereas the top pay is only 1300 an hr but of course pilots at mainline have to protect themselves as usual while the rest of us suffer at their helm."

USA320Pilot comments: I started my working career as a janitor, then I worked in a dealership cleaning up the premises and as a basketball refeere to work my way through college. Then I entered the Navy as an enlisted man to begin my military career and served 21 years in both the Navy and Air Force before I retired. I went through tortuous POW training, dealt with chemical and biological warfare fears, and flew in combat.

Do not tell me what it is like for the "pilots at mainline have to protect themselves as usual while the rest of us suffer at their helm" while I was fighting to protect our country. Moreover, prior to having children, on most my off days from US Airways I worked in the Air Force Reserve serving my country, versus being on the beach or golf course with other airline colleagues.

With all due respect, nobody is forcing you to work in a Mainline/Express position and if you do not like it, why don't you serve your country in a public service position?

Regards,

USA320Pilot
 
USA320Pilot,
Thank you for your years of military service. Without men like you, we would not have the freedoms that we do, and I bow to you in respect.

Robbedagain,
I did that work. For 3 years I worked as ramper for a third party service/catering company. I did it for $6/hr. I used to leave my house at 2 AM in order to reach a 5 AM shift as I did not have a car then, so 2 buses was my only way. I never expected to have much more in pay, because the job really was not bad to me, and didn't require a license other than a CDL. I never had the right to criticize a captain's pay back in those times. Maybe now I do, but I have earned that right through years of working hard, getting experience, and biding my time. I never believed I was being shortchanged, and I know a few good young men out there right now who would be thrilled at the prospect of getting $13.00/hr while getting some benefits and the chance to move upwards. Maybe from your perspective that seems bad, but please don't knock it. There are worse things you could have in life.....like no job and the humiliation of having to live off the public dole.
 
USA320Pilot said:
With all due respect, nobody is forcing you to work in a Mainline/Express position and if you do not like it, why don't you serve your country in a public service position?
Click to expand...
With all due respect are you saying that only "pilots" have served this country? And that somehow if they did serve this country that it excuses them from caring about their fellow workers? I thought the thread as about whether or not the pilot group at U has any empathy or concern for the working conditions of anyone but themselves?
 
Would you like to get janitors pay for flying your Airbus??? That is what many within the company are being dealt. Janitor pay to keep doing what you did before working Mainline flights. Mr. 320 keep cheerleading until your six figure paycheck vanishes into the sunset and you are flying for Johnny O at Mesa for " Janitors Pay". Your job may still be worth saving, but many are not at the current and proposed scales.
 
USA320Pilot,

I know people whom have known you for years and they don't describe your past quit so gloriously.
 
I would like to say that first I am not a proponent of U's pilot group either Mainline or W/O. I started out in this business 15yrs ago and made only 5.50/hr. I am not setting the world on fire, but I have adjusted my lifestyle to my income and debt ratio. In defense of the pilots, they have many hours of required schooling, and training to achieve their desired goal. In areas of customer service and ground handling, there is no pre-required or pre-employment training contingency requirements to deal with. On the other hand, there are many complex service issues the company bestows that must be learned to acquire and preserve revenue. The pilots now can realize that the high pay they once realized is a thing of the past and make decisions whether to stay and help the situation get better or find a new line of work with better long term security. Good luck to all!
 
You can bet they will keep their pay right up there. They may have to fly a few more trips to do it, but they will manage. No other group on the property has this offer before them. On the station level OT is minimal so you can't even make up your lost wages if you want to. As I have said before as long as the fleet stays at 279, it makes no differnce to the pilot group where we fly or who repairs and services the A/C. They could care less if we Express every station and contract out all MTC to an outside vendor. I have ZERO sympathy for their group mostly due to
320Pilot's comments. Remember when his pension was drifing away, He was a different guy then with his threats of leaving the company to fly overseas. Sad to say he is still here posting under a new name as if we didn't know who he was.
 
FWIW, this is one pilot who expects a bigger hit than the "lower level" employees - if Dave gets anything close to what he wants I expect to see a repeat of the last concessions. That equates to a 35% reduction in pay rate, an extra 2 days per month to get the same hours, less vacation pay, etc. Of course for anyone furloughed from any group (pilots included), 100% pay cut is still 100%.

Do I think this is unfair - no, I can stand those reductions a lot better than the CSA or ramp folks can stand a 10% reduction.

Jim
 
Unfortunately sometimes guys like 320 forget where they came from and it gets reflected in their posts or different attitudes. I think the jist of 320's post is in defense only.

The real problem is that regardless of what you think or regardless of what your emotions drive you to say, the reality of the situation is not good. This vicious cycle needs to be broken and everyone needs to take a look at that pointing finger and remember that 3 of those fingers are pointing back at yourself. Pilots wanting the CEO of a billion dollar company to make what they make, FA's wanting pilots make what they make, rampers and mechanics wanting FA's and pilots to make what they make and the crap just keeps rolling down hill untill it eventually hits a wall.

I understand that you are upset but we have to be realistic about our situation. It is your Airline, your profession, and your job, PERIOD! Wether you started 5 minutes ago or 40 years ago, you knew what you were getting into and you know what you fight for.

From a non U employee perspective, it is plain and simple, You give concessions and deal with the outcome or you dont take concessions and deal with the outcome. Either way you cant predict the future, unless you are Ms Cleo, you can only play the hand you have been dealt. I hate for anyone to be raped and pillaged like you have been this past few years. On the otherhand maybe it is just time for U to fade away!

Good luck and God speed
 
gogo:

As long as Dave Siegel is in charge of this carrier you can bet that we will fade away. Regardless of any wage concessions or work rule changes we will be history because he is incompetent and surrounded by even more incompetence. The employees are not the bad guys. It is sad that we are being mismanaged into oblivion. But that is life. It was fun while it lasted and the next job will be fun too. I just hope everyone understands who is killing this company.

mr
 
USA320Pilot comments: I started my working career as a janitor, then I worked in a dealership cleaning up the premises and as a basketball refeere to work my way through college

I suppose that you felt that you were the only teenager in the world that had to do drudge work.

Then I entered the Navy as an enlisted man to begin my military career and served 21 years in both the Navy and Air Force before I retired.

Yes, and you are entitled to a nice pension from that and it no doubt helped you to get your job at USAIR as a pilot. Sounds like a fair enough deal.

I went through tortuous POW training, dealt with chemical and biological warfare fears, and flew in combat.

"dealt with chemical and biological warfare fears". Dealt with fears? Wow! Tell that to all the people in New York who live with that every day. What did you fly into combat and where, Grenada?

Do not tell me what it is like for the "pilots at mainline have to protect themselves as usual while the rest of us suffer at their helm" while I was fighting to protect our country. Moreover, prior to having children, on most my off days from US Airways I worked in the Air Force Reserve serving my country, versus being on the beach or golf course with other airline colleagues.

With all due respect you did all that voluntarily, nobody forced you to sign up and you earned lifetime benifits by doing it.

Regards.
A300, MD-80, 727,737,747,757,767,777,DC10, MD-11, Mechanic
 
"I went through tortuous POW training, dealt with chemical and biological warfare fears, and flew in combat."

Hate to break the news to you.........But every pilot in the military goes through the :tortuous POW Training, and chemical and bio warfare worries. Also, combat. How about the recent rash of combat missions that are being flown. The US is always going after someone, be it Noriega, Grenada or some of the other COMBAT areas that have been around on almost a yearly basis. That is until King George II decided he liked the war in IRAQ enough to stay for the long haul.
 
Jim, I understand where you are coming from. Most of the pilots that I have dealt with are decent people that work hard as all of us do. It is just that MR 320 brings out the worst in me and others with his unwanted coments. I always enjoy your level headed posts.
 
i tried to enlist in the navy, airforce, and the marines and was told by all three that because i have virtually no vision in my left eye (even with my corrected glasses) that the military wouldnt take me at all. i would have loved to serve in the military.
however i find that you are just one of those pilots that all you care about is the money and could care less what the heck happens to everyone who actually services your aircraft. i will remember this when or if you fly into my city. also i cant not afford to move DUE to the LOW Wages that we have as top pay whereas you CAN AFFORD a David Siegel Style Home! So dont tell me the bull about how you are gonna hurt when you arent even working for 13.00 an hr. also the cities that we could have gone to are now Mainlin express crap
 
You are all losing sight of the real irony of this, if and when ALPA caves into dave's demands and places 170s at Mesa, they just screwed rampers, CSA, FA, mechanic and related and their own furloughed pilots, because our furloughed members who were promised a job at MDA by dave at the roadshows will not get a job.

PI and PSA are not hiring except pilots who got J4Js, so even though other groups only got preferential hiring at the wholly owned, there has to be jobs for them to be placed into and there are not.

The bottom line is ALPA and their MEC are not trade unionist, they sell out everyone else including their own pilots in order to keep the senior pilots on the payroll. This MEC has lowered the standards for compensation for their group and it will take decades to recover the losses, which the other groups will not.
 
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