Mesa's Ornstein Say's Pilots Overpaid

[diogenes]

This is just the latest saga of the oldest political story in the world. Does the individual serve the state, or does the state serve the individual? You can dress it up as monarchism, feudalism, facism, communism, or the new world order, it still comes down to the individual being subordinate to the powers that be.

Some two hundred and thirty years ago, we started a new experiment, never before tried on a grand scale - that the state would be subject to its citizens. And though we were not, and are not, perfect, the world changed for the better with that one bold concept.

We are the descendants of that noble tradition. Our fathers and grandfathers, their wives and sisters, kept it alive in two world wars. Their father and grandfathers kept it alive in a bloody civil war.

I find it my civic duty and a point of personal honor to keep the plutocrats at bay.

The names we call things change. Five hundred years ago, we called the powers that were duke, duchess, baron, etc. These days, we call them CEO's, titans of industry, and what-not. Same s**t, different era.

Now before somebody jumps me for confusing the state with business interests, I can assure you, I did not.

 

[autofixer]

Albiet, you may quit (like me) and do something else. If you were a serf, you would be endentured for life.

 

[airlineorphan]

True, unlike serfs we may have the right to quit and do something else, but hey, as the song goes, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!"

That's why it's called wage-slavery. Ya gotta work for someone in order to put food on the table unless people are working for you and making your money for you (which requires a supply of capital that is beyond most of us). That pretty much defines which side of the class divide you are on too.

Speaking of wage slavery, I highly recommend last weeks lead article in The Onion in which IBM announces the "emancipation of 8000 wage slaves" I laughed my fool head off.

In solidarity,
-Airlineorphan

 

[diogenes]

True enough, fixer. Analogies are not replicas, yet still offer insight.

I'm keeping my options open, and leaving is certainly near the top of the list.

And actually, I've always viewed myself, socio-economics-wise, as a yeoman-peasant.

 

[mrplanes]

Interesting conversation. Socio-economics, feudalism, state vs. individual, monarchies, capitalism, serfs, slaves and the like. But in the end the immense power of supply and demand, the very essence of a capitalistic democratic republic, is what dicates the ways of our working and purchasing lives. The entreprenuers who understand this concept are successful in their endeavors as they play the game to perfection. Some entreprenuers also understand the importance of a motivated, content workforce. These are the companies that make the most money and have the most success. Those companies, their customers and their employees all benefit and share in the success. They are the one's voted "best companies to work for" by Forbes or Fortune magazine year after year. And they are consistently the most profitable companies in this country.

Ornstein and Seigel, just like Lorenzo, understand supply and demand. What they don't utilize is the workforce concept. IMO that is because they are not in it for the long haul. Long term to them is a 5 to 7 year (possibly shorter) timeframe. And in that timeframe the customers and employees are viewed as tools rather than a foundation for success. Recall Lorenzo's beginnings in this industry and his demise. At the end of his run his customers hated him as much or more than his employees. We are seeing the beginning of that now as we lose business based on short term thinking by Seigel which he decsribes as "rightsizing" our company. He touts the "business traveler" but sends cramped RJ's from PIT to LGA and ATL. While that may reduce the cost, it also reduces the "business traveler's" desire to fly on U.

But back to wages. Ornstein and MDA can get what they need simply because of supply and demand. It matters not what the job is. There are more people than jobs right now and they know it. It is that plain and simple. And in their short term outlook that is money in the bank. The only way to break that cycle would be for the entire pilot group at Mesa up and quit Tuesday. But that is about as likely as Venus falling into the sun on Wednesday. They have us. They know it. We know it. And life goes on. For me, there is a monetary line and position I will not go beneath. I am still working here because that line has not yet been breached. When (and if) it is, I am out of this business. Because quality of life is more important than this job. There is a sea of money out there and there are a million different ways to bring it in.

mr

 

[Light Years]

LOL, I love The Onion.