jetcareers - View Single Post - How widespread is the resentment of ab initio pilots?

MartinFierro · June 25th, 2002, 13:58

There tends to be some resentment. I am one of those low-time pilots, but thankfully so far I myself have not experienced too much blatant prejudice for being such. Like any profession, there are professionals who behave as such, and there are others who have a permanent chip on their shoulders. Most of the pilots I worked with had the attitude "hey you're REALLY lucky; I wish it was like that when I was looking to get hired." Of course, there were some who openly despised us low-timers.

One of my friends at my airline actually had a captain who had it in for him, since he was a low-timer. This captain was/is one bitter ass. The stereotypical captain from hell. It was my friend's 3rd trip after having completed IOE, and the captain told him at the beginning "I hate low-time pilots, I am against hiring them, I've told management as much but they don't listen to me." He harassed my friend the whole trip, and gave him a really bad eval on his probationary report. My friend's flight qualifications were subsequently revoked, and he was sent back to the training center. Fortunately, he called the union, and they helped straighten the mess out. My friend was exonerated, record cleared, and the captain and domicile chief pilot had their asses chewed out for not handling the situation properly. The captain, BTW, has a reputation for being an ass, and about 2 weeks later was again repremanded for behaving like a child: he got into a yelling match with some rampers and gate agents. Talk about someone who needs to be fired for bad attitude!

So, yes there is resentment out there. It also depends on where you go. At my airline, as more low-timers were hired, people became more used to us. Also, if you are paired up with someone who has a thing against low timers, and if you fly well with that person, after a few flights he/she may realize that his/her prejudice is unfounded. As they say, performance speaks for itself.

June 25th, 2002, 13:58	#2
MartinFierro Newbie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Atlanta, GA/Cordoba, Argentina Posts: 29	Re: How widespread is the resentment of ab initio pilots? There tends to be some resentment. I am one of those low-time pilots, but thankfully so far I myself have not experienced too much blatant prejudice for being such. Like any profession, there are professionals who behave as such, and there are others who have a permanent chip on their shoulders. Most of the pilots I worked with had the attitude "hey you're REALLY lucky; I wish it was like that when I was looking to get hired." Of course, there were some who openly despised us low-timers. One of my friends at my airline actually had a captain who had it in for him, since he was a low-timer. This captain was/is one bitter ass. The stereotypical captain from hell. It was my friend's 3rd trip after having completed IOE, and the captain told him at the beginning "I hate low-time pilots, I am against hiring them, I've told management as much but they don't listen to me." He harassed my friend the whole trip, and gave him a really bad eval on his probationary report. My friend's flight qualifications were subsequently revoked, and he was sent back to the training center. Fortunately, he called the union, and they helped straighten the mess out. My friend was exonerated, record cleared, and the captain and domicile chief pilot had their asses chewed out for not handling the situation properly. The captain, BTW, has a reputation for being an ass, and about 2 weeks later was again repremanded for behaving like a child: he got into a yelling match with some rampers and gate agents. Talk about someone who needs to be fired for bad attitude! So, yes there is resentment out there. It also depends on where you go. At my airline, as more low-timers were hired, people became more used to us. Also, if you are paired up with someone who has a thing against low timers, and if you fly well with that person, after a few flights he/she may realize that his/her prejudice is unfounded. As they say, performance speaks for itself.