block30

I'm currently a regional pilot with three different retirement accounts, and bought a house back when I was a CFI. I get the impression that regional pilots are viewed as all having massive debt with SJS. Some are, some aren't. Hard days off, leave work at work, Guard/Reserve friendly, not worrying about ticking off the the boss man, the ability to bid 15 plus days off? These are good things that many other jobs do not offer. Of course pay needs to be fixed, or the flying needs to go back to mainline. We all know that.

There are a lot of flying jobs that shouldn't be at stepping stone pay, but unfortunately there are many. Everyone knows who the good employers are now, especially with the advent of the internet. All those places have reams of résumés from highly qualified pilots. Its becoming cliche to put down the regionals as if other segments of aviation aren't just as deadbeat, if not worse! Most commonly I hear how corporate is always hands down better, but that is false. There are lots of dead beat corpoarte gigs. Its also getting super old listening to the old blame game about why flying isn't the profession it should be. It is ALWAYS someone else's fault. Always!

So why come to APC? To communicate and coordinate to fight back and make things better. We steer newbies away from deadbeat jobs and hopefully those jobs change or die.

block30

I get what you are saying buuuut....

I thought one of the biggest beefs that the Colgan crash families had was that they were under the impression they bought tickets on Continental. So if the public is aware of what is really going on--aware of the whipsaw at the regional level, they can put pressure on management. Today's consumer has such an abundance of information and so readily available. We really do vote with our wallets. Quality costs money, and I think the flying public ought to press for more uniformity between mainline and regional flying. When customers speak, management listens.

Joliet

Regional FO pay is awesome. Go work somewhere where you will spend the least amount of time swinging gear. Watching 3-4 year GoJet pilots get hired at American Airlines is mind blowing. Do the math.

The Juice

This is more having to deal with a post I made in another thread about tool pilots who tell passengers they fly for their mainline partner or wear lanyards with the Legacy carriers name. They will say "Its because nobody has heard of XXXX regional airline," I say its because you are posing to be something youre not. Want passengers to realize the difference between regional and mainline pilots/aircraft/wages? Stop acting like they are one in the same. Management spends a lot of money to make the experience between traveling on a regional to a mainline carrier to be seamless, its to fool the passengers. Pilots who who pose as their mainline carriers only exacerbate the issue.

And I dont think any passengers really care about the trouble of the regional pilot. They will say "oh, thats unfair." But in the end they want cheap fares. Air travel is super safe on any aircraft so it is not like they are "gambling" with their life if they fly a regional vs a mainline carrier. Many times they dont even have a chance and will have to fly the regional to certain markets. Do you really think anyone would choose to drive instead of flying a regional airline? No way.

This isnt the fight for the public to take up. It is a fight for the regional pilots to wage themselves. Not ALPA, not mainline, not passengers. As long as pilots are voting "YES!" to concessions to fly more aircraft, nothing can be helped. Eagle and XJT sacked up and said "NO!" and they were rewarded with the threat of closure and losing aircraft. Everyone has to say "NO!"

Joliet

Regional FO pay is awful.

I apologize for the typo.

dragonbravo

Or it could be that they are threatened with disciplinary action by their chief pilots if they don't wear the stuipid things.

rickair7777

I always use my airlines name when I make PA announcements, not the partner's. Maybe I'll get called on it someday.

Stall

Likewise. Unfortunately the passengers don't pay attention to those anyhow.. And if they do care to listen, they certainly do not care who's driving the thing. It's clearly painted on the side of the airplane, right?

The Juice

Curious, what airline requires their pilots to wear a specific lanyard for their mainline partner? Im not talking about the "Delta Connection" ones. Im talking about regional pilots who wear "Delta" or "United" lanyards.

And if the company makes you use "Delta Connection" or something in the PA, thats the blurred line I was referring to what they are creating. I would not expect a pilot to say "No, im not going to adhere to the company's requirements for PAs" if they have to say a specific thing. Im talking about those who pretend to be a mainline/legacy pilot when dealing with passengers/public.

Joliet

Well... If you just must know,

The US Airways company lanyards are the only approved lanyards for Piedmont, PSA, and US Airways employees to wear. This came about because of the yellow On Board USAPA lanyards.

I'm not really sure why you are all hung up on lanyards though. Do you get upset when someone wears a Big 10 university or NFL lanyard and the person doesn't work there?