Hired at Northwest!

[H46Bubba]

Originally Posted by Ian J

I can't believe we have another winner already! Congrats to Velo, the third recipient of:

Good call Ian!
Way to go Cav! Good luck in training!

[H46Bubba]

Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

CONTROL-ALT-DELETE!!!
CONTROL-ALT-DELETE!!!
CONTROL-ALT-DELETE!!!

Aaaaaaaaeeeeeigh!

Oh are we talking about Howard Dean again?

[gomntwins]

First off... congrats!

I am curious though... when'd you submit your application? How long did it take to get the call for an interview? How long between call and interview? And lastly, did you have somebody walk your stuff in? Sorry for the questions... I'm just trying to get the feel for how the major hiring process is now. Again, congrats!

[n57flyguy]

Congrats on moving on!!!

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by frog_flyer

What a ray of sunshine.

Read the signature line. Sorry if you kids can't handle the truth.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

Read the signature line. Sorry if you kids can't handle the truth.

Well it is not the truth that people are giving you the Debbie Downer award for.

Maybe NWA will merge and new-hires will be furloughed, or maybe not.

The thing that probably got you the award was that two days ago you write a post about the merits of leaving the regionals as quickly as possible, get your time and get out etc., and then when someone says they've got a class date at a legacy carrier and they're leaving a regional airline for it, you come in and say good luck with a merger.

First of all that's not the truth until it is actually a merger and not a rumor.
Second of all don't you at least think that this post is probably a lame place to write it?

I'm a Velocipede fan but c'mon...if you can't distinguish where to write things like that then you just aren't trying.

[Nick]

Congratulations Cav!

The training at NATCO is a very laid back atmosphere. Enjoy whatever airplane you get.

[Doug Taylor]

Cav!

Congrats man!

Velo! I bet you're going to win the "Ian J: Debbie Downer Award" for February!

[Michigan_Flyer]

CONGRATS Cav!!!!

You're in the big time now baby!

[JEP]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

Hopefully, you'll have job after the merger. Ask the TWA guys how theirs went.

Originally Posted by Velocipede

Read the signature line. Sorry if you kids can't handle the truth.

Yes, let's read it:

"Humankind cannot stand very much reality." - T.S. Eliot

and now back to your statement:

Reality is that as of yet, There is no merger.

Let me guess, you're a glass half-empty type of guy???

[Cav]

Originally Posted by gomntwins

First off... congrats!

I am curious though... when'd you submit your application? How long did it take to get the call for an interview? How long between call and interview? And lastly, did you have somebody walk your stuff in? Sorry for the questions... I'm just trying to get the feel for how the major hiring process is now. Again, congrats!

Sorry I've been gone for a while guys. I just returned from a trip. Here are some answers.

It was pretty short from app to interview...a couple of months if memory serves for me, your mileage may vary. I didn't have any insider help. Right place right time I guess. The interview itself was a great experience. Extremely friendly, put you right at ease. I can't really get into specifics about the interview due to the nondisclosure statement they make you sign.

[Cav]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

Read the signature line. Sorry if you kids can't handle the truth.

Guys cut him a break. Velo don't appologise I'm an adult and there is a lot of truth in what you say. The reality of this business is...well it is what it is. If you (we, all of us) are not comfortable with accepting these truths well maybe you should consider another line of work.

My opinion is that if the mergers the media is pushing actually occur (IFFFFFF they occur), God help us all....legacies, regionals, etc. However nothing has happened yet and I can't honestly make my decisions based on a bunch of headline happy day traders. I'm excited about the opportunity I've been offered. The same risks exist whether I was hired at NWA, CAL, UAL, DAL, etc.

The only truths in life are death and taxes.

[PCL_128]

Originally Posted by JEP

Let me guess, you're a glass half-empty type of guy???

This business tends to make you that way.

But congrats, Cav! Hopefully it turns out well for you.

[Qgar]

Congrats, Cav!

[Velocipede]

What you do have going for you Cav is that the more public an acquisition is, the less chance it will happen. Anyone remember the Air Tran/Midwest debacle.

Based on that alone, I suspect you have a good chance of NWA being around and independent for awhile.

[Lee D]

NICE! Very nice! Congrats on the big time!

[mastermags]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

What you do have going for you Cav is that the more public an acquisition is, the less chance it will happen. Anyone remember the Air Tran/Midwest debacle.

Based on that alone, I suspect you have a good chance of NWA being around and independent for awhile.

I thought you were on the Delta/Alaska merger kick anyway.

And congrats CAV.

[OldTownPilot]

Whoo hooo!

Congrats.

[Pietrantonio]

Congrats! Just want to wish you the best with NWA.

[skydog]

So let me see if I've got this straight...if you go to work for Skybus (or JetBlue, or Virgin America) for less than industry standard wages, you are a scab that is single-handedly destroying the profession, and are therefore worthy only of contempt. However, if you go to work for a major airline like Northwest for less than industry standard wages, you are to be congratulated for your achievement.

Just trying to understand the rules...

[skydog]

By the way, congratulations and I wish you the best of luck.

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by skydog

So let me see if I've got this straight...if you go to work for Skybus (or JetBlue, or Virgin America) for less than industry standard wages, you are a scab that is single-handedly destroying the profession, and are therefore worthy only of contempt. However, if you go to work for a major airline like Northwest for less than industry standard wages, you are to be congratulated for your achievement.

Just trying to understand the rules...

It would be pretty obvious to all but the most dense, especially IF you had been paying attention to recent airline history.

But since you've dragged your dead horse out (again) let's beat it one more time.

Until jetBlue came on the scene, the going rate for narrowbody Captains in the U.S. was about $190 - $200 an hour.

Along comes non-Union jetBlue. They pay their narrowbody Captains $120ish an hour and have no pension plan. They become the hometown airline of the largest media outlet in the world and consequently the media darlings. For the first couple years, they rake in the dough because of their incredibly low wage scale.

In order to compete, USAir hold a gun to the heads of the pilot group and demands wage concessions. They get them and USAir wages sink to where? Amazing. The same as jetBlue.

United uses the bankruptcy court to negate the pension plan and drop wages to where? Again, jetBlue rates.

Northwest threatens bankruptcy court and demands pay cuts to, you guessed it, jetBlue rates.

Delta, THE DAY BEFORE THE LAW CHANGES PREVENTING THIS, declares bankruptcy so they can reduce pay rates to jetBlue levels and gut the pension plan.

Is it actually possible you CANNOT see the linkage between these events? Or is it just that you are a jetBlue pilot and WILL NOT?

Because for most of us legacy pilots, the cause and effect is clear. And now, along comes outfits like Allegiant ($110), Virgin ($95) and Skybus ($65!?!) who seek to lower the bar even further.

And you can bet the airline managers are examining possible way to lower OUR PAY to those levels. And even the monkeys at jetBlue who started the whole ball rolling are not exempt. You can bet the Needleman and his cronies are eyeing that Skybus rate and looking to gut those poor spineless non-Union bastards just like they gutted the rest of the profession.

So, that's the long answer to your question. Basicly, you go to one of those scumbag outfits and you have earned the contempt of every Unionized legacy airline pilot in America. And there is NO WAY I'm extending you the UNION NEGOTIATED privilege of a jumpseat ride. Go ask one of your Non-Union scum brothers to take you to work or get you home.

[Firebird2XC]

Originally Posted by skydog

So let me see if I've got this straight...if you go to work for Skybus (or JetBlue, or Virgin America) for less than industry standard wages, you are a scab that is single-handedly destroying the profession, and are therefore worthy only of contempt. However, if you go to work for a major airline like Northwest for less than industry standard wages, you are to be congratulated for your achievement.

Just trying to understand the rules...

The concept here is that Skybus, JetBlue, and Virgin America rolled in and undercut other mainline carriers by paying less to labor by intent.

If other mainline carriers are paying less than "standard" right now it's more than likely that bankruptcy concessions put them there. That, or they were always on the low side of that chart to begin with.

Comparing a Legacy carrier like NWA to those three Johnny-come-latelys isn't really the point.

[Velocipede]

Fbird,

You've got to forgive skydog his lack of historical perspective. Given his avatar, he's probably a retired military fighter pilot whose ego prevents him from imagining that he would ever need a Union to help him recover from one of his mistakes.

That's why scumbag outfits like jetBlue, Allegiant, Virgin and Skybus LOVE retired military fighter/attack pilots. The military spends an inordinate amount of time during indoc beating they "command" mentality into you. To function as a unit, individuality must be suppressed. As does individual initiative and thought.

That's why they cut your hair and put you in 'poopie' suits for the first month...so you'll look like everyone else. Groupthink is encouraged.

For military pilots that put in a full career, questioning authority is highly unlikely. That's why those kind of people are highly sought after by non-Union companies. Those kind of people think the Company will protect them just like Uncle Sam did. And they're grateful for an airline job because they're late to the game, especially if they can hook up early in a startup outfit. They're looking for a quick upgrade, even if its at a reduced rate.

And they can afford it because they've got several thousand dollars a month in military retirement coming in AND TriCare medical benefits. Do they care if they're screwing the rest of us? Nope.

They're the quintessential "I got mine" operators.

Well, since they have theirs, so they can just go BUY a ticket to get to work.

[jtrain609]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

It would be pretty obvious to all but the most dense, especially IF you had been paying attention to recent airline history.

But since you've dragged your dead horse out (again) let's beat it one more time.

Until jetBlue came on the scene, the going rate for narrowbody Captains in the U.S. was about $190 - $200 an hour.

Along comes non-Union jetBlue. They pay their narrowbody Captains $120ish an hour and have no pension plan. They become the hometown airline of the largest media outlet in the world and consequently the media darlings. For the first couple years, they rake in the dough because of their incredibly low wage scale.

In order to compete, USAir hold a gun to the heads of the pilot group and demands wage concessions. They get them and USAir wages sink to where? Amazing. The same as jetBlue.

United uses the bankruptcy court to negate the pension plan and drop wages to where? Again, jetBlue rates.

Northwest threatens bankruptcy court and demands pay cuts to, you guessed it, jetBlue rates.

Delta, THE DAY BEFORE THE LAW CHANGES PREVENTING THIS, declares bankruptcy so they can reduce pay rates to jetBlue levels and gut the pension plan.

Is it actually possible you CANNOT see the linkage between these events? Or is it just that you are a jetBlue pilot and WILL NOT?

Because for most of us legacy pilots, the cause and effect is clear. And now, along comes outfits like Allegiant ($110), Virgin ($95) and Skybus ($65!?!) who seek to lower the bar even further.

And you can bet the airline managers are examining possible way to lower OUR PAY to those levels. And even the monkeys at jetBlue who started the whole ball rolling are not exempt. You can bet the Needleman and his cronies are eyeing that Skybus rate and looking to gut those poor spineless non-Union bastards just like they gutted the rest of the profession.

So, that's the long answer to your question. Basicly, you go to one of those scumbag outfits and you have earned the contempt of every Unionized legacy airline pilot in America. And there is NO WAY I'm extending you the UNION NEGOTIATED privilege of a jumpseat ride. Go ask one of your Non-Union scum brothers to take you to work or get you home.

Hook, line and sinker.