EMB Pilot,
Read your post....... What you described in the incoherant bastardization of a profession which takes years to get started in, is fickle in that if you lose your medical, get a DUI, or just aren't very lucky ends in a heart-beat and if all goes perfectly, you are REQUIRED to retire by age 60. Throw in the fact that you never start anywhere but at the bottom of a list no matter your experience, and if there is any light at all between your ears you get the picture. Try telling a heart surgeon he will have to start once again as an orderly or candy-striper every time he switches practices or hospitals.....
If you're really happy with what you make, never dreamed the UAL 777 or NWA 747-400 pay scale dream, you really are simple minded fool......These airplanes aren't fun to fly, we don't do it for kicks. You want a fun airplane, go fly a lear or rent a decathalon. In the mean time, most who understand the difference between a career which is very difficult to get started in and a hobby is one thing and one thing only, MONEY.
If you really are happy with what you make, why not post your name and I'm sure there are those here who will ensure that you never work for a major carrier. If not, think for a minute about what that coveted major carrier job will pay when the outsourcing to those with no backbone will pay. How does the dream of flying a 747 left seat all over the world for two weeks at a time for $90,000 sound? Not worth it is it....
I'm not blaming you, or the other CHQ/Mesa/who-the-heck-ever pilots, I know how managment works. But if you think you deserve the respect and admiration of those whose backs you are able to leap from, think again. Most of the pilots whose jobs are being outsourced are wearing their 15 or 20 year ALPA pins, have been furloughed at least twice, and started their flying careers with carriers like Eastern, Peoples Express, or some other carrier most of the express pilots are only old enough to have read about. Yea, the USAir guys have had bad luck, and have maybe made some bad decisions, but they've been there to talk the talk and walk the walk. You want an example of class, take a look at the ba()$$ on the MDA pilots right now, standing up for what is right no matter the cost, its called pride and integrity.
The fact is, Republic Managment does want the MidAtlantic Pilots to train their pilots, do proving runs, mini-evacs, appease the feds, and keep their airplanes flying with the regularity that so far only MidAtlantic has managed. As it is, who do you think already trains most of your pilots? USAir contract training has trained all of your instructors, is training everyone at Shuttle America, and will be training those who chose to show their true character and went to the first Republic Class.
This will all conclude one way or another and the 28 airplanes will go to Republic. When the terms are settled, the MidAltlantic crew members who chose to go will be the models of professionalism they have been all along. They will get the planes flying, the crews trained, the manuals correctly rewritten, and carry on business as usual. If you think this isn't true, talk to any former Allegheney or Piedmont pilot who went to MidAtlantic about what the USAirways guys are like.
Best to you, and remember how you feel about USAir pilots the next time you stick your hand out and ask for a jump seat or enjoy not paying by the leg for your pass privelages.
ALL OR NONE!
SH
PS. No MidAtlantic Pilot ever had the chance to vote on a contract, it was handed to us by a spineless MEC who continues to show their true colors. The MDA pilots have fought hard for a contract which still does not exist in written form, were forced to operate under the Eagle contract with no side letters and still have better pay and working conditions than the IBT. Maybe you should consider the benefits of having the entire pilot group come WITH the airplanes and a contract? Suddenly, Republic starts to grow, you get a pay increase, better vacation, better scheduling, long call reserve, the whole thing. It may happen and would be for your betterment and only because the MDA pilots have backbone.
