SkiBum112

ALPA's "To do" list is about ten miles long. And I'm sure ripping one of their buddies for generalizing us is not anywhere near the top of the list.

TBucket

I agree with everything in your post except this part. No job flying an airline aircraft requires "minimal skill". Period.

acl65pilot

Guys, professionalism starts from within. It can be taught later in life but ideally should come from a solid upbringing. (Might be a root cause there)

Pilots that walk around looking like crud make me look bad, and that irks the heck out of me. People still look up to us, whether they admit it or not. If a passenger give you a hard time, don't let him. Accepting less than what you deserve is what is bringing this profession down. It goes from passengers, to gate agents, to schedulers, to managers, to flight attendants, to pilots within our ranks. You get respect when you show that you deserve it. How you do that is by showing that you respect yourself.
When you respect yourself, and your profession that bleeds out of your being. With half of the group thinking they are sending a message to the company that a dirty shirt is going to scare the pants off of management they are dead wrong. You wear the uniform and perform the job as flawless as possible because it is what you (singular), and We (the professionals) beleive in. Doing that not just shows the appearance of being a professional, but will command the respect from those you want to be respected by.
It will not make you more money, but it will change the way you see things. Take pride in what you do, because how can you expect anyone else to if you do not?

StrikeTime

He is right about this one.

At least once a week I see an idiot wearing a backpack over his uniform like he’s coming home from school, walking through the d*mn terminal making the rest of us look like garbage. Professionalism is about appearance, performance, and dedication to the job you do. In the last 6 years, that has all gone down the drain.

Miss Blue

I'm a big fan of wearing the uniform. When you sign up for the job you make the agreement to do your part and whether or not the company treats you poorly, you should hold up your end of the deal. At least keep your self respect for doing the right thing.

I've always believed that you teach people how to treat you. If you let them get away with treating you poorly, they will continue to do that. If you stand tall and say "no" and give them no choice, then that's what they'll take. The secret is standing up for yourself.

For me, I think this all ties into professionalism. You really have to believe that what you do is worth more. True, if the company treats you poorly then some people will act accordingly. I like to believe pilots are stronger than that. That's why we leave the party early or take the taxi... It's just the right thing to do.

Now group hug.

On the stuff about ALPA... Why don't they have public relations all over this. Media is a for profit industry, anyone can get out there and push stories. Every week there should be a feel good story out there sharing all the love...even guys with small children and large balloons figured out that you can get anything out into the public with a little work...

yamahas3

I agree, I should've worded it differently. The actual act of flying the airplane requires great skill but the airlines require minimal skill to put you in the seat.

A lot of recent RJ pilots are in completely over their heads, the skill level required to fly the plane is significantly greater than the skill level required to get the job and the airlines are happy with this as long as the pilots accept low wages and their captains are able to fly single pilot.

You're not going to get a professional when the position you're filling is designed for and pays for nothing but a seat warmer.

acl65pilot

As a former LCA at a regional I could not agree more. A cat D CRJ-50 is not a good place for a 500 hr wonder to be. It is fast as heck and nothing that they have seen before. Add to it the fact that they are on reserve so it takes at least a year or two to get comfortable with the jet and the airspace.
When I was doing OE I wanted to see them fly the jet. My God, where most of them scared to death to take that Auto Pilot off. They were comfortable with the automation, but not the stick and rudder stuff that made them a pilot. And Please God, do not ask them to critically think!

Cycle Pilot

I've been flying for over 16 years, have almost 9000 hours, and have worked at two airlines, and I have never been taught to recover from a stall the way that crew attempted to. Pulling back on the yoke, not adding full power, and retracting the gear and flaps is NOT the way to recover from a stall in any aircraft.

Cycle Pilot

Very good posts. I was an LCA at Skywest and we had guys with at least 1000 TT/100 ME and most came in with at least around 1200-1500 hours on the Brasilia. I felt very comfortable flying with those guys and there were very few times where we had trouble with getting pilots through training. There's a HUGE amount of flying skill and command ability acquired from flight instructing and flying 135 freight, etc. These skills are missed when you're thrown directly from training into an SIC position of an airliner where you have an autopilot and somebody else making all the decisions.

Spacemann Splif

Exactly. Babbit is just piling on with every other politician (and he is a slimebag politician now). A couple of guys crap their pants, and he joins all the know-nothing weenies who demand that the rest of us wear diapers.

We absolutely need the union to highlight the overwhelming majority of pilots who epitomize professionalism, and hit back at these clowns.

Another example of why many of us are deeply distrustful of ALPA national.