Space Monkey

Well it was more than six months that I CFI'd since I started working as an instructor just after I turned 20. DId help provide a little extra scratch while I was in college though...

cac737

Spacemonkey: Yeah, this thread is still alive. It may not be as active or as popular as the NWA threads or the regional threads, but there are people who try and make a living at these supplementals, so when they get judged for "keeping the bar low" they take offese to it. As do I.

You very first post says: "dont do it". So, when we get furloughed and have a house to try and keep and families to feed and wait for a bite on one of our many many applications to the UPS's, Fedex's, SWA or whoever, are we supposed to turn down a lesser job, that may have other attributes other than industry leading pay? Perhaps unemployment won't cut it, perhaps we aren't willing to go to Lowe's and prefer to just stay current and keep flying. There are some, incredibly that don't want to go to a Jetblue or a SWA, ever think of that? I'll volunteer, I don't really care to go to SWA, and those are my personal reasons, and no I've not been turned down, I haven't even applied. Don't get me wrong they are a great company, successful but just not for me, as I would like to do other than fly a 737 for multiple legs a day for the rest of my career, and I just don't care for the whole A,B,C thing....just my honest thoughts......But what are those that do want to go and aren't fortunate enough to get picked up or get turned down and have to wait a year before they reapply? Again perhaps those that want other than a SWA or a legacy, have other than leading pay as their top priority.

I may have overstepped myself when saying that you are what is wrong with this industry, as I was more specifically speaking about a pervasive mentality that is coming out more and more. (not saying you have it). Ok, so you are not a ERAU pvt to atp in 1 month, and I applaud your efforts at your own struggle to climb the ladder. I guess it is also nice to know and be able to cite nice things like the Mcnary Waitress Act of 1930, or the railway labor act, or give us your dissertation of: "if the regionals needed to be mainline aircraft then the unions should have negotiated pay rates all the way down to 1900's and metros back in the day to keep the regionals from coming into existence". ....You would get an A+ in air transportation class for that one!

Unfortunately, this is not class and this is reality. What you are saying in principle is right, but it is a bit more complicated than that. History does repeat itself, but the industry is ever-changing just like the weather, and I really don't think that any text book could keep up with what happens out on the line. Tell me how could any of the furloughed USAirways pilots who are now ****ed through the whole jets for jobs and are stapled at the back end of republic's seniority list could have ever forseen the steps that came about that spelled out their screwed up position? How could any MEC negotiate this sort of contigency in advance, and how can they negotiate their positions after a judge shreds their efforts up in chapter 11? What would your text book say about the possibilities of RJ's taking over mainline flying and Embraer or Bombardier coming up with successful replacements for the smaller Dc-9's or 737's? Did the textbooks back in the day forsee how a lorenzo could use a loop hole in bankruptcy laws to shred contracts at will? I bet there is no mention of new legislature put in place that says you actually have to be bankrupt to declare it (lorenzo clause) in your texts nor do they cover it. the point is, when you make statements like the above, you show your naiviness (spelling)?......again....not so easy in the real world.......
but you are smarter than what people give ya credit for......book smarts is not real world smarts neccesarily, and when younguns start out they should observe 90% more with NO judgements and they will soon benefit from other people's experiences and mistakes as well as from airline history being played out in real time outside of textbooks .

Now, I don't have a problem with those that are tremendously fortunate and get hired with little time because i know they have a cross to carry which is the ire of mostly everyone in the industry that says they dont deserve it. So to those that are lucky AND WORK INCREDIBLY HARD, KEEP THEIR TRAPS SHUT, LISTEN AND DO THEIR PART WITH HUMILITY...i have no problem with that, it's just those that come in on a high horse that i want to kill!!! lol

Now, above you stated that your job is a stepping stone, and that people dont like RJ guys, and where the fuk could you get the jet time you need to get elsewhere. 1st off im sure there are people who are perfectly content with being at the top of their scales, they probably took out the 1st jets and are sitting pretty right about now....that is awesome.....which brings me to my second point....there is no shame in being an RJ pilot, and anyone who comes down on you for being one or doesn't like you because you are an RJ guy can go and kiss your arse! I bet they gladly commute on you to get to work, and you guys work hard for peanuts as well, **** flying turboprops up and down the NYC area or RJ's through chicago all days long to me is tougher than flying my 737 across the country, so you have my admiration for doing that everyday!

Your point about Focus Air's low payscale was also given with judgement and it's the second part that people take offense to. I dont think it's right that focus takes erau grads and puts them into the FE seat, that is bs as well!
Im sure with more time in the industry we will all bear witness to more bs, and it is our collective and singular abilities to adapt and still fly while making a at least a decent living and being with our loved ones that will always be the challenge, not keeping the bar low.


This now brings me to.....BURFLYER.........

You stated that you wanted to see what a 70K a year scumbag 747 pilot looks like!!!!

Well, I would bet a year's salary that you would never dare say anything like that to that person's face! That is a fact! Another one is that regardless of what you fly or where or how old you are, you are the scum among gentlemen that prefers to operate without dignity or respect for yourself, others and this profession.

Another sentence of yours says: have some dignity, those those trying to better the company, how about you quit and go to a place that's already acceptable!!!!!

Again, you are a spineless, shameless, freeloader that even parasites or leeches would be ashamed of. As I stated above, no matter where you work at, there was a time when even that place sucked bad! If you work for any major, regional or fractional, I dare you to say that you wouldn't be there if things got bad, or would have stayed when things weren't acceptable,.....see what kind of response you get. C'mon be a man do it!
I know this is just a nameless board, where people can just chime in with whatever they want, its not a serious conveyance of where real change takes place or anything like that. But i will get on here and say that you are the type to come to the USA after WWII and thumb your nose down at the rest of the world while hiding behind the fact that you dodged the draft and hung out in south america while this was all going on, in short you are not a man, you are nothing.

Where you see a scumbag 70K a year 747 guy, you see anyone or everyone past, present and future that works hard to make things better, that sacrifices without pay or recognition sometimes so that those that come after can benefit from their efforts and so that those so called "places that are acceptable....exist".....

cac737

dutch747

You guys will love this, but for the record, the Cadets at Focus Air aren't even ERAU graduates! It's (was) a program started (now cancelled) by ERAU, but it was open to anyone from any school with a Bachelors Degree. Get Mom & Pop to pay 70K and WHAM! You get a CFI, some hours in a 757 sim, then the FE seat on a 74 for the promise of 1 year later you'll be sittin in the window seat of the whale. If that don't rattle some cages, I don't know what will.

And just to piggyback on what CAC said to Burflyer, if burflyer wants to know what 70K a year scumbag 747 pilot looks like, just walk into any Airport terminal, and look for the guy wearing the uniform with shoulder boards, wings on his left breast pocket and who looks like he's been around a while. That is what a 70k a year 747 pilot looks like. End of story.

L-1011-500

Cadet program is terminated at Focus. There are 4 who are in the middle of a lengthy OE and they can not go on from that. All the ones who have not started flying are done.

B757200ER

Congrats, man. You're paying your dues and getting a great experience. You'll go far, and you will get a job flying a big jet.

halfbank

CAC737 well said...

CE750

I just have to give that a big AMEN!

Plus, with cargo on track to quadruple in the next 20 years, I somehow don't think the future of ACMI's or any other cargo operations is in much jeopardy and I would bet that the pay scale will go up along with the demand for the work over time.

EK Birdcage

This thread cracks me up..

Why don't you guys all come over here, and throw sand at each other to solve this...

My point of veiw, time off is king, especially if it is in a "First-World country".. I had fun at the regionals, had fun at a low-cost, and now having fun kicking in the sand box and flying all over the world.. Most jobs in this business, assuming they are safe, can be made descent with a descent attitude and a dismissal of the grass is always greener, mine's bigger then yours and my dad from AA can kick your UAL dad's ass syndrom..

Have fun, and enjoy every step... Sitting in a 1900, all I wanted was to be in a jet.. Sitting in a jet, I wanted a bigger one, and then to be a Captain.. As a 737 domestic Capt, I wanted International.. Now I look at a 1900 on the ramp from the window of the 777 and think, I bet that guys having fun... It is all relative, and like age, we seem to come full circle in our flying careers too..

cheers
EKBC

FliFast

Well Said DC8,

Long Live Sticky Fingers Too !!!!

/s/ Bottom Feeder 747 Capt

Sideshow Bob

FWIW:

The other day in ANC a Cargo 360 CPT said they are on the cusp of buying the Focus 747's. Nothing quite like non-sched takeover rumors. Except for big operator rumors.