I believe that the full Congress hearing of Capt. Sullenberger is at its place here.
YouTube - US Airways Pilot Capt. "Sully" Sullenberger Speaks to Congress: "My Pay Has Been Cut by 40%"
Capt. Sully is the well-known hero-captain who ditch-landed an Airbus A320 in the Hudson River, New York City last year.
"As a reminder of what is really at stake, I, like thousands of my professional airline pilots know that flying a large commercial airliner is a tremendous responsibility. We clearly understand that our passengers put their lives in our hands. We know that we must always be prepared, we must always anticipate, we must always be vigilant, expecting the unexpected and having an effective plan for dealing with it must be in the very make-up of every professional airline pilot."
"While I love my profession, I do not like what has happened to it.(...) I'm deeply troubled about its future. Americans have been experiencing huge economic difficulties in recent months but airline pilots have been experiencing those challenges and more, for 8 years."
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Revolving-door management teams who abused airline employees as an ATM"
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It is my personal experience that my decision to remain in the profession I love has come at a great financial cost to me and to my family. My pay has been cut 40%, my pension like most airline pensions has been terminated and replaced by a PBGC guarranty worth only pennies of a dollar."
"Please do not think I exagerate when I say that I do not know a single airline pilot who wants his or her children to follow in their footsteps.
I am worried that the airline piloting profession will not be able to continue to attract the best and the brightest.
The current experience and skills of our country' s professional airline pilots come from investments made years ago when we were able to attract the ambitious, talented people who now frequently seek professional careers elsewhere.
That past investment was an indispensable element in our commercial aviation infrastructure.
Vital to safe air travel (...) "