Pay peanuts... get monkeys.
"monday morning quarter back," forgive me if I'm Australian but that doesn't even make sense and,... As someone who believes in treating professionals as professionals if you want them to perform as such, I like to understand when someone is insulting me.
"If everyone stopped looking at GA as a stepping stone or hobby then maybe conditions and wages will improve..." well said PHF.
"Focus on the end product, if it is airlines WILL pay a great dividend later on." Why should it SJ, would you still say it was all worth it if the majors played and payed by the same rules you endorse for GA? Would you still be happy if for your hard earned experience you where still working for casual pay, no security and oh yes... hotel stories. Or are you saying that people who carry 15 PAX rather than 150, are less professional than yourself.
The old saying is true enough, pay peanuts and you get monkeys. The resent findings in the Lake Evella crash are all to quickly forgotten. It's well and good to take children and give them their "break," but why should that compromise on standards, whether contractual or safety. From what I've seen (& I know you'll all be itching to slam me for this generalisation), operators that claim the high ground for employing low hour pilots, do so because they are the ones desperate enough to accept less than adequate conditions. Worse still these vulnerable juniors are also yet to learn that compromising safety for an operator is not worth risking you life for.
SJ, "NOT A MINUTE OF IT WAS UNREWARDED, IT PAID THE ULTIMATE DIVIDEND." You are one of the blessed, for not all get to see the dividend before paying the ultimate price.
Now where have I heard that slogan..."Where experience counts"... can't remember, but it couldn't be NAC. Surely "a bloke with 200 hours" can't be called experienced.
Perhaps incident and accident rates should speak for themselves.
"But geuss what if theres no flying then obviously no one gets to go flying..." If conditions there are so generous HA, what sort of pay can all your casually employed staff rely on when the flying stops.
Now, before you write me off as disgruntled, insecure and a quarterback (well I don't get it so maybe I am one). I've had my break in GA, had the chance accrued many hours, many stories, and worked very hard to provide a professional standard of service and safety. And I don't loose sight of my dependence on my employer, or their on going existence. In return I receive a full time salary, the proper respect for the work I put in, and have a satisfying and fulling career under way without flying "heavy metal."
So I refer back to what has already been well said, "If everyone stopped looking at GA as a stepping stone or hobby then maybe conditions and wages (and I would add standards and safety) will improve."
G-UP.