Michael Moore – Should Airline Pilots be Working Two Jobs?
by Dave on 13/10/09 at 3:07 pm
You probably know Michael Moore from his shocking movies depicting the faulty American health system or the errors of the Bush administration. On his blog, he points out an interesting fact – how little pilots for commercial airlines are paid and the fact that they’re the last people who should be taking on a second job.
While on an airplane, listening to Lady Gaga, he gets called by the pilot of the aircraft:
[...]The plane landed and I stepped into the cockpit. “Read this,” the first officer said. He handed me a letter from the airline to him. It was headlined “LETTER OF CONCERN.” It seems this poor fellow had taken three sick days in the past year. The letter was a warning not to take another one — or else.
“Great,” I said. “Just what I want — you coming to work sick, flying me up in the air and asking to borrow the barf bag from my seatback pocket.”
He then showed me his pay stub. He took home $405 this week. My life was completely and totally in his hands for the past hour and he’s paid less than the kid who delivers my pizza.
[...]
In the movie I interview a pilot for a major airline who made $17,000 last year. For four months he was eligible — and received — food stamps. Another pilot in the film has a second job as a dog walker.
[...]
very little attention has been paid the mind-blowing stuff in the film: pilots on food stamps, companies secretly taking out life insurance policies on employees and hoping they die young so the company can collect, judges getting kickbacks from the private prison industry for sending innocent people (kids) to be locked up. The profit motive — it’s a killer. Source
While some people may earn more, they don’t have the ethics a pilot needs to do his job. It takes a focus, a great amount of effort and dedication to safely fly tens of people from A to B.
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pilot friend
Apr 28th, 2010
Pilots make six figures!!!!! The average is 90,000 a year to fly 5 days a month depending on senority. it is known that the first two years they are paid in the twenties. During the “evaluation” period, that is true but after the second year their saleries double and triple. You failed to mention that in your movie.
Before the bailout of the airlines, Pilots made anywhere from 175k to 350k with a pension worth over a million. The pensions and the exorbint pay is part of the reason the airlines and they were forced to be bailed out with our tax dollars. The average Joe can’t pay 5,000 for a ticket to support the costs of salary and overhead. The numbers just don’t add up.
The reformations cut their saleries 40% leaving the average median income to about 90k. to fly 5 days a month!!!
The sick day thing is bull. Pilots are protected by the unions and they are under strict rules and regulations. The person Michael is reffering to must be abusing the system severely to be chastized in that manner. The union wouldn’t stand for it.
Stop telling half truths Michael. Pilots do very well. Focus on the poor saps who are not protected by the unions, then you may get some praise.
Dave
Apr 29th, 2010
Could you tell us an example? Which airline pays that much?
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May 10th, 2010
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