damiross2@xxxxxxxxxxx writes: No one has forced the pilots to fly to Mesaba. If their union is so weak that the can only get $17K to start, then they should get a new union or just not work at Mesaba. ----- Original Message ----- From: DZTOPS@xxxxxxx To: damiross2@xxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2003 19:26 Subject: Re: [AIRLINE] Stuff that is going on with Regional Airlines So maybe no one will fly for them or the company will wind up with unqualified or poorly qualified personel-certainly not customer friendly, welcomming staff eh? Maybe the union in question should be more aggressive? then everyone whines they are trying to put the company out of business and they dont understand etc etc . There has to be some balance but for christs sake man, could or would you live with a family on 17k a year today? in Chicago or Detroit or ???? most any city? What is the Federal (republican) poverity min today? for a small family? For a highly trained profession I think its a joke to pay that kinda wage in this market and cost of living era. My reply: To expand on another e-mail I sent regarding this: This pay is for a First Officer. That means someone just starting in the business. A captain, per the ALPA web page for Mesaba, makes industry standard pay. It's not a republican thing. It's business 101. One of the problems in business today is everyone expects to make top dollar just starting out. That may have worked in the high tech industry but look where that industry is today. A first officer position, no matter how you look at it, is an entry-level job. Entry level jobs do not make the big bucks. David R http://home.attbi.com/~damiross http://home.attbi.com/~damiross/books.html