For all the airline guys
waker
___________________________
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 allow 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 spent Christmas alone in a crash pad?
When your spouse is watching TV and the program is interrupted by a news
flash of an aircraft accident, does he/she momentarily freeze in fear of
what he/she 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 loaders forget to set the cargo locks
I pay the price when engineers design a fuel pump not quite correctly
I pay the price when Mother Nature decides to shift the winds...I pay
the price
YOU SPEAK OF THE COST
Ask the CEO of ValuJet the cost of a DC-9 buried in the Everglades...The
Cost
Ask Fred Smith the cost to scrape a DC-10 and MD-11 from the runways at
Steward and Newark....The Cost
Ask Korean Airlines the cost of a 747 that didn't quite make the runway
at
Guam...The Cost
Ask Fine Air the cost to clean up a DC-8 off a Miami Street...The Cost
Ask Bob Crandall the cost of a B-757 impacting a Colombian
mountain...The Cost
And, if not for their cool, calm professionalism, what could have been
the
cost of a UPS B-727 that suddenly went dark and silent four miles above
Chicago? How much were they worth to you that night? Industry standard
or
25 percent below...The Cost
WHEN YOU TRY TO INTIMIDATE ME, REMEMBER
It was I who flew Cobra gunships in the jungles of Vietnam while you
worked
on your masters degree
It was I who sat alone at the tip of an F-18 in the silent instant
before I
was catapulted over a cold, dark sea, while you slept 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 in your garden blossom
It was I who buried a friend
It was I who know a little boy who will never play catch with his Dad,
so that
you may play with your 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 others dare to try. Realize this and there are
few
obstacles we can't overcome.
Author Unknown