When you see a Pilot... he's not getting paid!
- When you see a pilot going through the same security you go through, he's not being paid.
- When you see a pilot walking in the terminal, he's not being paid.
- When you see a pilot walking around the aircraft doing a preflight inspection, he's not being paid.
- When you board the aircraft and look in the cockpit and see the pilots setting up the aircraft, they're not getting paid.
- When you land safely at your destination and walk off the aircraft and see the pilots shutting down the aircraft, they're not being paid
- When you see a pilot waiting for a ride to a hotel for the night, he's not being paid.
- The only time the pilot of your aircraft is getting paid is when you DON"T see him... when he's locked behind the cockpit door as you push back from the gate. Every thing else he does until this point is for free. For no wages. Nothing!
- The average airline pilot is at work for 12- 14 hours per day, yet gets paid for less than 6 - 7 hours.
- The average airline pilot is away from home, at work, for 70+ hours a week, yet gets paid for only 15 to 18 hours per weeks work.
- Most pilots schedules have them working 15 to 21 days a month... that means they are not at home half to three-fourths of every month. Yet the public usually only reads about those few exceptions that have 20 days off (though in their last few years before retirement).
- Holidays, weekends, birthdays, anniversaries, summer vacations.... not at home.
- A majority of pilots have 4 year college degrees, or more. Then they begin training as pilots.
- A large majority of Pilots have spent 8 years or more flying in the military, risking their lives and protecting your freedom for wages most of you wouldn't accept in the civilian world.
- Civilian trained pilots have spent $50,000 or more to acquire the training that qualifies them for a Regional Airline job, which pays a wage less than the poverty level in most western countries.
- Most pilots do not attain the required experience level to be hired by a major airline until they are well passed the age of 30. The average age of a new hire airline pilot is 32.
- Until the year 2009, airline pilots were required to retire at the age of 60. This gave most of them less than 28 years to maximize their income and fund their pensions, hoping that greedy airline execs won't steal it. Today, they still have to worry about the greedy execs.
- Airline pilots are subject to random drug and alcohol testing, any time they are at work. Fail it and they lose their job.
- Airline pilots are required to undergo rigorous re-training and certification every 6 months, at which time they could fail and lose their jobs, licenses and livelihood.
- Airline pilots are required to submit to random government "Line checks" during which their license could be revoked and livelihood destroyed.
- Airline pilots are exposed to radiation levels far exceeding the normal safe radiation limits mandated by the FDA.
- Airline pilots are required to submit to a government medical examination every 6 months. Year after year. Fail that, and their career is over.
- How many of you go to work where people try to kill you? How many of you have had your office turned into a missile? How many of you work behind a bullet proof door?
- How many of you are responsible for the lives of 200- 300 people, with any small mistake in your performance resulting in the death of your customers (and yourselves), and serious financial setback or destruction of your company?
- How many of your jobs require you to fight your way through thunderstorms, rain, snow, ice and turbulence, day and night, year after year? No mistakes allowed? The excuse " I had a bad day at work" never accepted?
- Many pilots volunteer (on their own time and own dime) to be trained as Federal Flight Deck Officers, and carry weapons to defend their aircraft, crew and passengers. They maintain their proficiency and qualifications twice a year on their own time and money.
- How many of you go to work where you are searched, patted down and your personal items scrutinized by strangers for weapons and bombs, even though you can kill everyone in your place of work with just your bare hands?
- Airline pilot pay scales and hours worked are usually posted by absurdly overcompensated Airline Exec's who wage a PR campaign against their Pilot Unions and trying to justify their own greedy bonus's and draconian wage and pension cuts. Cheap airline passengers just love this since they don't care if their airplane is flown by the lowest denominator, as long as they can fly for next to nothing. Of course if they don't get to their destination, their next of kin can sue....
4 comments:
I think I understand what you're trying to say here - something complimentary to pilots - but your comments about them working for free is simply wrong.
Even when I flew Part 135 sitting around waiting for people I was being paid. The vast majority of airline pilots fly under a guarantee each month, many often tied to trip and duty rigs that compensate them for the sitting around/walking around time.
Flight instructing ... now they are often NOT being paid when they are sitting around and I think there's a link between that and the difficulty they have keeping people on board.
But the idea that pilots are preflighting or running checklists for free is as outragious in one direction as the crazy quotes that come from the airline executives ... which I DO happen to agree with you on.
As far as the time away from home, I am also a big believer in the fact that you know that when you sign up for the job. If you don't like being gone, then don't choose the coockpit as your lifestyle.
Blog on my friend.
Rob,
Keep in mind that these are not MY words...This was an email forward sent to me that I thought that I would share. Some of it BS? Yes. Some fact? Yes. Where does the truth lie? That is for you to decide.
Scuds
I often remind my friends and neighbors in other professions, that I'm the only one who works behind a bullet proof door - often with a body-guard or two (aka air marshals). Much of what you posted is a good 'heads up' - especially the role of airline execs in the last generation or so. Thanks.
I'm a commercial pilot and I have rarely been paid for anything other than logged flight time. We don't punch in in the morning and get paid for how long we are at work. We get paid to get airplanes places.
I did work for a company once that guaranteed me four hours pay on any day that I was scheduled to fly and reported for work, but it was rare that operational conditions prevented me from flying at all. For that four hours pay I would probably spend eight or twelve hours at work checking weather or sitting around waiting for an airplane to be repaired.
There are companies that don't pay the pilots at all unless they reach their destination. So you could deice the airplane, load the baggage and passengers, fly an hour or so, be unable to land at destination, return, unload, and not only be paid nothing for that day, but because of the amount of ime you spent flying, be no longer eligible for a flight you were scheduled to do the next day.
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