What a jacka$$

[captjim]

From the Denver Post.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~33~1279421,00.html

I encourage you all to write this idiot and tell him the real story.

 

[Mr_Concorde]

Hey, could you check the link?

 

[BoDEAN]

The page cannot be found

The page cannot be found

 

[captjim]

Fixed

 

[Trout]

Whats the real story. It didn't sound like he exaggerated anything.

A 29% pay cut saves 1.1 billion. That pretty significant.

 

[jumppilot]

Whats the real story. It didn't sound like he exaggerated anything.

A 29% pay cut saves 1.1 billion. That pretty significant.

I see no problem with that article...Even the "auto pilot - on" is a public misconception we live with.

 

[Flying Illini]

From the article:

Don't get me wrong. When a jet is flapping in the breeze like a suicidal chicken hawk determined to rip off its own wings, I am glad there are highly paid professionals making sure the autopilot button is "on."

That's a cheap shot...Let him take a few flight lessons and put him the simulator so he can get a taste of why pilots get paid the big bucks. Just as doctors get paid to save people, pilots get paid to save people when things don't go right.

 

[canadflyau]

Its a revenue problem!!!!

United's pilots could have worked pro bono last year and the airline still would have been in the red.

If you are wondering how to fix the revenue problem there are tons of ways.. Price tickets like cruise lines.. more expensive further out and not raping the business traveler who does not make plans way in advance.. deals, meetings, what not, often happen on a moments notice. Drop the stupid rules such as Sat night stay required. Try marketing your profit during tough times, passengers are scared to fly- so give them encouragement! I could go on and on. Pricing has not revolutionized or changed with the times at all, and that is just one place to start..

These managers/people think that by changing the tires, a rough running engine can be fixed.. that is the wrong mentality.

 

[CatYaaak]

That's a cheap shot...Let him take a few flight lessons and put him the simulator so he can get a taste of why pilots get paid the big bucks. Just as doctors get paid to save people, pilots get paid to save people when things don't go right.

Well unfortunately, too often the pilots (highly-paid and otherwise) themselves are the reason "things don't go right", but that's beside the point.....

One thing the journalist did get right was the alienation of United's passenger base during 2000 due to the slowdown. To apply pressure on management by using this tactic is an admission that they know pi$$ing off customers to achieve their own ends works, and they were willing to do it.

The passengers knew this too, and frankly they didn't (and still don't) understand why they had to suffer these frustrations because some pilot's weren't happy with making a "mere" quarter million $$s per year, and needed $300,000 instead.

To not take into account the erosion of brand loyalty this foments, or to pretend that passengers (who ultimately pay those salaries) forget their frustrations as soon as the "industry leading" deal is sealed, is an exercise in mental evasion.

 

[pilotyip]

It is not a revenue problem

It is not a revenue problem, it is a productivity problem, they were paid too much for too little flying, prior to all this the average UAL pilot flew 37 hours a month and got paid for over 80 hours at industry leading wages, you can not afford that, SWA does not, JB does not, nothing wrong with making 150K/yr but you have to work for so the company does not have to have so many non-flying pilots on the payroll. The whole package of reducing guarentte and pay to increase productivity is the secret. BTW not all of this is the pilot's fault, the system of all the seat movements throught all the differenct airplanes is a big burden for the majors, and that is why some of the A/C typres pays are being combined.