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On 1/21/2003 5:09:33 PM oldiebutgoody wrote:
Actually, it is more amusing than a bother. I love watching the less skilled labor try to tell the pilots what to think. In reality there's really only one group that can shut this thing down for good; and only then if they're consolidated. I agree that this is the defining issue for the pilot group; either the company will find a way to make it work, or ALL of U's employees, including management, will need another form of employment. That's the reality of the situation, no matter how loud, rude or senseless your arguments are.
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First of all, and I hate to break this to you:
(sarcasm on)
A pilot is no more skilled or less skilled than a lot of other groups on the property. The training is harder and more expensive to come by (in some cases--the millitary guys clearly have a different type of sacrafice for their training). But that's it. Some of us who have absolutely nothing to do with an airline in a professional sense fly in our spare time. Were it that skilled, a union would not be required to earn large coin, as the market would drive up the cost of the craft, eh?
(sarcasm off)
Okay, I don't really see it that way. I'll repeat for the folks in the back who have missed the first couple of posts I've made to this effect: The biggest problem the pilot group faces with the pension difficulties is a PR PROBLEM!!! Don't come off as arrogant pompus throttle jockeys, and there would be a much higher level of support from congress, the public, and other labor groups. Okay, that was too harsh.
RE: shutting the thing down--Eastern proved that a group besides the pilots can kill an airline.