[staplegun]

Originally Posted by skydog

But, having gotten there, they (and every other major airline pilot) have a vested interest in keeping the regional guys as downtrodden as possible. If they had their way, the largest airplane any non-major pilot would be flying would probably be flying would be a Metro or Saab or whatnot.

I'm kinda speechless here...

That's fine for the select few who make it to the majors. But the unfortunate truth is that the majority of pilots will not make it to the majors. They will spend their careers flying for regional or national airlines, or perhaps freight or corporate. I know many fine pilots who are as skilled as any pilot out there, but due to a choices, circumstances, random factors, whatever, they have spent the their careers flying for such carriers as EastWind Airlines, Express One (btw did you know that Express One paid their 727 captains even less than what this Skybus is proposing?), Casino Express, Kitty Hawk, etc.

The simple truth is the that major airline pilots don't want you working for Skybus, Virgin America or whoever, not because they care about your career progression, but their own. I recognize as well as they do that any pilot who flies heavy jets for less than the "accepted" rate threatens their job security.

You recognize it, but you don't really understand it. No pilot is going to "threaten" my job security by flying for any of these companies. I'm a firm believer in the phrase, "a rising tide lifts all boats." I don't want any one to make less, I want everyone to make more!

If the major guys were offering an alternative, I might have a different attitude. But they are not. I don't see major airline pilot groups pushing for some some kind of guaranteed flow through for their regional partners.

This is exactly what was done at my place, see the various Comair threads or talk to an ASA pilot about the outcome.

I don't see them holding the line in regards to pay and benefits.

I don't see anyone in this business holding the line right now except for FedEx & UPS, thank God for them!

All I see is a group of self-interested pilots who want to keep the little guy down because it solidifes the ground on which they, the major guys, stand.

This is where you couldn't be more wrong. When your pay goes up, my pay goes up. When my pay goes up, your pay goes up. It really is that simple.

As I said earlier, I understand, and can even respect, why they do it. It's human nature for a person to protect what they have. What I can't understand in this case is why the little guy is so willingly going along with it.

The upshot of all this is that I think people should take advantage of any good opportunity to move up that comes along. And for some, Skybus may be a good opportunity. If you think it is not than you don't have to apply.

Where we differ here is that you view this as a zero-sum game; if I win you somehow have to lose or vice versa. As I said before, a rising tide lifts all boats. When anyone of us gets a pay raise we all win. I want everyone looking for a flying job to go to the highest paying one they can find, or to try to bring the wages at their current job up as much as they can.

Kevin