Luv2Rotate

I agree. They go there knowing its **** poor pay but think its a great stepping stone. Then 3yrs later they're still being paid **** poorly and complain about how bad the industry has become... Well here's an FYI for all you bottom feeder carrier wanna be's. You're the problem not the solution.

paxhauler85

This coming from a guy who works where? Better yet, where have you worked?

I'm sure your part of the problem too, maybe just not so willing to admit it.

Luv2Rotate

CFI'd 3yrs, worked AMF 2yrs, Horizon for 1yr (furloughed) now fly 91 in BE 200 and PC12. Horizon is by far not the worst in the industry my friend.

The Juice

Well, someone with 1 year 121 experience is far from an expert. Your negative attitude would lead people to believe you have "been there and done that" and tired of it. The funny thing is you were not even in the industry long enough to fully hate it.

Luv2Rotate

Thats the point. I don't hate it and I LOVE my job. However, I have friends at Colgan/Great Lakes and constantly hear how they're abused and underpaid, how they should go into another career field, how they can't pay school loans because they themselves struggle to eat ect...

If I were to loose my job today Colgan/Great Lakes and others wouldn't even be on my job prospect radar. I'd probably just go back to school and get a fall back career.

I might not have been in 121 long but I have a long family history in 121. My sister flies for Alaska, brother in law is a mech for Delta, and Dad is a retired United Capt and former KC-135 driver flew "in country" aka Vietnam. At one point he was furloughed and we had to get on food stamps!!! He's a college grad and former AF pilot, we had to rely on government assistance for about 10 months. I've seen and lived through their experiences in 121.

FlyJSH

I don't love my job. I love my free time.

I have been flying professionally for 13 years, so I have seen a few things. I am the first one in my family to fly professionally, so all of my experience is first hand.

When I came to Colgan, I measured the pros and the cons (like every other job I have taken). I made the best decision I could. I have made similar decisions before with other companies that appeared to be stable. Now they are gone just like TWA, Eastern, and a zillion others.

I do not cry that things are unfair, but I do work to improve them, just as I did at my previous companies. Also, I try to give prospective employees a true picture of what they face. Unlike others who simply say "it's a bottom feeder and it sucks", I try to tell them specific points of what things are bad, areas where XYZ is better, and let them make a decision.

I would love to make PinColgaSaba the greatest place to work. That said, there is only ONE greatest place to work (and your opinion of which is best likely is different from mine). So I will keep plugging along, keep fighting, and keep trying to improve the QOL and benefits here and wherever I finish my career.

aviatorhi

No, you don't agree with any statement to raise pay for pilots, not by your actions...

Managment will keep getting what they want because pilots like you will take what is dangled in front of them ... hope you understand.

Fr8Master

Would you agree that everyone else currently employed at Colgan is keeping wages low as well? If every pilot quit at the same time, Colgan would be forced to pay big bucks to hire replacements ASAP...it's not just the new hires that are the problem.

The problem is people are passionate about flying and some will do it because flying brings them more joy than money. We exist in a free market system...get used to it.

aviatorhi

For the first question... yes. I nearly became part of the problem myself when I started class at GLA thinking the same way, I had an offer to fly in Alaska at the same time but thought "oh, maybe I should try the quick turbine PIC route", anyway, after talking it over with my "classmates" I quit GLA, within a week of starting class, and went to Alaska to make something I could live on... in retrospect I realized that I would not have been helping myself or anyone else by doing what was perceived as the quick route, I'd still be based in DEN (if that) instead of HNL.

As to the last, I am used to it, and I've never given my services to bidders below poverty wage (with one noted exception above, and even then, I realized the error of my ways before I was locked into it), not even ones close to it. If flying brings you more joy than money then do something else for a living and fly for fun, if you're serious about the career start treating it like it's something you make a living with, not something you're doing as a hobby.

neffre

I know it's a long shot, but does anyone know how many Mesaba furloughs are expected to move to Colgan?