Ignition Overide,
OK, we understand each other, then. I flew for Comair years ago whe we fielded the CRJ. I left to fly heavy iron in Aisia, made a lot of money, and decided to return to small jets. I see a lot of potential at NWAirlink for an old guy like me, so I am starting at the bottom, just like anyone else.
With that said, I think there IS a lot of arrogance in the mainline. The only difference in the mainline pilot and the regional pilot is simply timing and the market demand. These regional guys are just as educated, many former military flyers, and really great sticks. Of course there are the new-to-the-business folks, but they are just as well educated and motivated to do well in the business. The mainliners need to change the way they think about the small jet pilot.
There are different motivations for some folks to stay with a small jet carrier. There is some stepping-stone mentality, and I say to those folks, "go for it," but there are some who truly desire a career flying small jets. It is rather arrogant for a mainliner to look at a 50 year old small jet pilot and think of him/her as a loser who couldn't get a job with a major. The person may not want a job with a major. Ever think of that?
I was in the food court in MSP a couple of days ago when a NWA pilot asked me about flying for NWAirlink, and why I didn't work for a major. Of course, in his arrogance, he couldn't have known that I had flown the world's largest commercial airplane for the world's fifth largest airline and decided to quit for family reasons. I simply and politely said, "been there, done it, retired."
Another interesting facet to this issue is that at a recent LEC meeting in DTW, the issue of one senioity list for NWA and NWAirlink was brought up. You can read about it at
www.airlinkpilots.com. I'm not totally convinced this is a good thing for NWAirlink pilots, but I am open to discussion.
Well, sorry for the long post. As you wanted to state your positon clearly, so did I.