Originally Posted by
Grendel
I got the call from Virgin America for an interview.
A little research on the website shows a very impressive management team and good financial backing.
I work for one of the US majors on the A320 and have considerable time in the aircraft. Who knows when I will upgrade. I have an opportunity to get in on the ground floor, if I am offered employment with Virgin.
What would you do in this case? Would you take the job?
Would I take the job? No!
We eat our young in this industry. $126/hr for the left seat, you have to be kidding me. You might up grade faster but take a look at the working conditions (if they have them in print) and I bet you will be surprised by how bad they will be. Add to that the risk of the company not making it (Airtran, and Jetblue just lost money this last quarter while UA, NW and AA made money so far) and it looks like an easy decision. Not to mention you prostituting yourself just to get the chance to get to the left seat sooner erodes the pay and working conditions for the rest of us.
We have all taken it in the shorts if you work for a US major but on the bright side we have leveled the cost playing field and the low-cost carriers are not the low-cost carriers anymore. Instead of jumping ship you should root on the pilots at SWA and AA as they negotiate their contracts and hope they raise the pay and benefit bar a notch or two.
I work for a carrier in BK and I make just under Virgin captain pay as a wide-body copilot. Factor in our work rules, retirement (I think we still call it that) and I bet I am way ahead.