The SHOW: Airlines still a "good gig"??

[Griz882]

Frankly, I'm just amazed this doesn't happen more often. I don't know how you airline guys cope with these complex surface operations with crazy dense levels of traffic and ever complex taxi and runway configurations and the constant time pressure. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

As I recall from my days as a ramp ape with Continental (ORD) you have three guys who are all paid about $15 an hour pushing back several millions of dollars of aircraft while two pilots who are paid hundreds of dollars an hour chat about the new flight attendant and how much they hate management.

You know what? I’m kind of amazed as well.

 

[ChuckMK23]

 

[Fins Out]

As I recall from my days as a ramp ape with Continental (ORD) you have three guys who are all paid about $15 an hour pushing back several millions of dollars of aircraft while two pilots who are paid hundreds of dollars an hour chat about the new flight attendant and how much they hate management.

You know what? I’m kind of amazed as well.

How exactly does your story relate to something that didn't take place on the ramp or involve ramp personnel?

 

[Griz882]

How exactly does your story relate to something that didn't take place on the ramp or involve ramp personnel?

I thought it was a push back incident. My only knowledge is the pictures I see here…but my statement stands (for accuracy and humor purposes).

 

[ChuckMK23]

@Griz882 watch the JB video I posted. Both aircraft were taxiing for departure. And looks like both airplanes were right on the yellow line but clearly not enough room to occupy the same space lol.

 

[ea6bflyr]

Big airplane, little airport theory.

 

[jarhead]

The video of the mishap (posted on reddit)

Sucks for the both crews. Gets busy out there, best to just stop and figure it out. Recently had a situation at ORD north port between my A319 pushing and a 787 trying to park. We both stopped, pissing lots of folks off. We were like F U, we're not hitting each other because you ground and ramp controllers are in a hurry amongst all the other confusion. Shut north port down for nearly 15 minutes. We left ok and the 78 parked alright. Safety first.

S/F

 

[MIDNJAC]

As for the Delta crew, that’s a “blue on blue”, fellas… not cool.

Well not exactly........CRJ aint mainline metal, in spite of the DBA paintjob. More like blue on green maybe?

Kinda like when one of our guys went buck wild on the wholly owned airplane, after shrooms, recently

 

[MIDNJAC]

Big airplane, little airport theory.

Reminds me of sitting in the ready room in meridian overhearing some SAU reservists comment about the WW and tornado watch covering our airspace at the time......"tornados are so big, and these jets are soooo small"

 

[Hair Warrior]

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[Hair Warrior]

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[MIDNJAC]

Maybe not at breeze (or maybe JB, not sure?), but our top of scale (12 yr) seniority FO pay just went up to $280k at regular guarantee. Could probably pull 50-100K more if you hustled. I'll say my landing tonight in Orange County wasn't worth $280k, but it was worth a no grade at least

 

[sevenhelmet]

Hmmm... I didn't think people camping as FOs was because being a captain is too "labor intensive". I thought it was more about seniority to maintain schedule and QoL.

But I'm just a rando OEM corporate pilot, so what do I know?

 

[HuggyU2]

You're spot on, sevenhelmet.
Very few avoid the left seat because they are intimidated by the workload.

For me, moving to NB cappy from WB FO would mean a pay cut. And a lot crappier schedules.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Yeah, I have no intention of moving left until I could hold a decent line. Our reserve CAs get beat down hard.

Other potential, but less common reasons, are medical (can fly with second class in the FO seat here, don't need first class), and there are a few folks who failed their first try at upgrading, and probably aren't willing to risk a second failure, which would generally mean their termination as an employee.