PPRuNe Forums - An Open letter from a pilot to Glen Tilton (CEO United Air Lines)

An Open letter from a pilot to Glen Tilton (CEO United Air Lines):

Recently a lot has been said and written in the press concerning
pilots' salaries and compensation. We have been told about how much it
will cost our company, our job has been compared to others, and
various subtle and not so subtle threats and intimidation tactics have
been hurled at our group. In light of the current situation, please
permit me, a pilot, to give you a small glimpse into my world.

Don't compare my job to other jobs:

How many boardrooms explode over Long Island Sound?
How many meetings conclude with hundreds of dead bodies?
How many trucks cost $82 million dollars?
How many doctors spend half the month away from their families?
Do the children of media representatives cry when Daddy puts on his
uniform to go to work because they know he'll be gone for a week?
How many salesmen lose their jobs because they have high blood pressure?
How many lawyers spend Christmas alone in a crash pad?
When your spouse is watching TV and the program is interrupted does
he/she momentarily freeze in fear for what they might hear?

There is not another profession in the world where the consequences
for mistakes are so catastrophic and unforgiving.

The Price:

I pay the price when somebody loads full oxygen containers in the cargo hold.
I pay the price when a terrorist has a bone to pick.
I pay the price when weather forecasters err in their assessment of the weather.
I pay the price when engineers design a fuel pump not quite correctly.

You Speak of the Cost:

Ask the CEO of ValueJet the cost of a DC-9 buried in the
Everglades.
Ask Fred Smith the cost to scrape a DC-10 and MD-11 from the runways
at Steward and Newark.
Ask Korean Airlines the cost of a 747 that didn't quite make the runway at Guam.
Ask Fine Air the cost to clean up a DC-8 off a Miami street.
Ask Bob Crandall the cost of a B-757 impacting a Columbian mountain.
And if not for their cool, calm professionalism, what could have been
the cost of a UAL B-777 that lost oil pressure over the middle of the
Pacific Ocean and limped to Hawaii on a single engine? How much were
they worth to you that night? Industry standard or 25% below?

When you try to intimidate me, remember:

It was I who flew Cobra gunships in the jungles of Vietnam while you
worked on your master's degree.
It is I who sits alone at the tip of an F-18 in the silent instant
before I am catapulted over a cold, dark sea, while you sleep
peacefully in your bed.
It was I who one night watched my wings grow heavy with ice, miles
from the safety of the nearest airport, praying that I had enough fuel
to find clear skies, while you watched Monday Night Football.
It was I who flew a C-130 into Panamanian gunfire, while you decorated
your Christmas tree in 1989.
It was I who faced head-on the fourth largest army in the world over
the deserts of Iraq and brought it to its knees, while you watched it
on CNN.
It was I who landed an A-6 on a floating piece of tarmac no bigger
than your backyard, while you mowed yours.
It was I who orbited in unarmed tankers over enemy territory to
replenish others sworn to protect you.
It was I, who watched missiles and bullets blossom in my face, yet
didn't turn and run, while you watched the flowers blossom in you
garden.
It was I who buried a friend.
It was I who knows a little boy who will never play catch with his
dad, so that you may play with you grandchild.

Sir, please don't try to intimidate ME. I am not your enemy, I am your
asset, an asset that has experienced and accomplished things few dare
to try. Realize this and there are few obstacles we can't overcome.