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Aviation accidents happen, and it’s probably inappropriate to wildly speculate.

It's complicated. It's important to know the background of AA. It's a four headed beast of Legacy AA, TWA, America West, and US Airways. Everyone has been screwed over in some form. US Airways and America West merged in the early 2000s. The Nicalau Award, infamous in aviation and airline history, was extremely controversial. It said that the two pilot lists will be blended in the same relative seniority, so if you were 30% on the old list, you'd be 30% on the new list. However, US Airways was a very old airline, and AWA was a very young airline. Therefore, you'd have pilots who had been on property 5 years, being put over pilots who have been on property 20 years. As you've heard, seniority is everything. The unions refused to ratify the arbitration decision, and instead concentrated their hate and distrust between each other. This lasted for almost 10 years. With no ability to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement, neither union could move forward and it got nasty as each one blamed the other for their woes. For the line pilots, it mainly meant frozen pay rates and work rules for a decade. Management played off this and rode the cheap labor for years, as the airlines operated as two separate companies under one paint job. TWA was on the brink of complete liquidation. Not a normal bankruptcy where you renegotiate debt, but at the point where the metal was going to be scrapped to satisfy the debts. Instead, AA bought them, but the pilots list was simply stapled to the bottom of the AA seniority list. One guy I talked to lost 12 years of seniority overnight. So they were pissed. Legacy AA had something called the B Scale. In order to get a new contract, a contract was signed where for the first 5 (?) years, you were paid less than the A scale guys. No difference in equipment operated or work rules, but you'll get paid less so the pilots already on property could get paid more. "You'll be senior someday" mentality. Then came all the bankruptcies, frozen A funds (pensions pilots were banking on) and pay cuts. The moral of the story? EVERYONE on property got screwed over in some form. Some pilots cannot get over the past. So why do Pilots hate Doug Parker? Is it deserved? Yes and no. Keep in mind, he was CEO of America West and rode the CEO wave to the top of AA. Some pilots here are so bitter, they want the world to burn. They have been on the wrong side of the airline industry for 30-40 years. They've lost houses, their domiciles closed, been through multiple divorces, owe(d) child support and alimony, did not have the military, and have always had an awful relationship with management. There are no saving this pilot group, you can never make them happy. Then we have our contract. The 2013 contract was written to include programs that didn't exist yet. Long story short is they turned off some stuff that was made obsolete in the contract, the replacement sucked, the pilot group wanted it back, the company said OK but we can't program all the stuff in the new contract. Pilot group said we don't care, and thus everything was put on hold to re-activate programs that had been de-integrated and shut down. A scheduling mistake in 2017 solidified the non-implementation, as the pilot group got HUGE work rule changes in agreement for dropping all grievances against the non implementation of the contract. BUT management has implemented items that help them, but none that help the pilot group. So, now we're in my personal opinion. Should DP be fired? From a leadership point of view, he's lost most, if not every work group. Ed Bastian and DAL have figured out labor relations. Oscar Munoz has figured out how to do it at UAL. AA seems behind the times, sticking with labor and negotiating tactics that the worst of the industry invented. They preach a "new American" but hired the same company negotiator that has been at the center point of all the awful combative labor relations (Jerry Glass.) So you have a bitter pilot group, and a management philosophy of more of the same. So the CEO talks a good talk, but actions are pointing towards another long, nasty "same ol same ol" company culture. Nobody believes we're going to overtake UAL or DAL with Doug in charge. Motivation isn't low, it's more like do your job and go home. There's no real reason to go the extra mile, or go above and beyond. And it seems like management is OK with that. So again, should DP be fired? Probably, but only if we can guarantee his replacement is better. And then the new guy needs to clean house of the middle management that still operates like it's in the early 90s. Overall, I do like it here. They've treated me well. I live in base, bid reserve, and worked 5 days this month, for 76 hours of pay. I've been on property for 2 years and can hold Captain later this year. But I do union work in Contract Compliance and new hire mentor, so I see a lot of the management-first solutions often, especially in Crew Scheduling.

By the time MOJO gets around to calling the threat you're already dead.

Columbus is not bad at all. There is stuff to do around there and some decent cities within driving range. Just thank God you aren’t at Laughlin. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

A good, solid, well made war movie. Don't regret mixing with the riff-raff which is one of my criterion for movie-going. Best picture award winner? Nope.

It does, but as mentioned above there are resources in place, and unless you are a threat to yourself/others or to messed up to fly they are good about providing assistance and keeping you flying. The few RPA units I were in during my time flying them were all extremely close. It certainly helped being able to punch the ICS button to your bro’s next door and chat/decompress/sport bitch while controlling a drone spinning endless circles. We always hung out as a shift on our off day’s, often it was standard drinking shenanigans but we did plenty of other non destructive things, I made some of the best friends I’ve ever had in the RPA world. Hardest part for most wasn’t the mission, it was usually pretty clear these guys we were going after were bad and a threat. It was more so the endless shift work. There was no end of deployment, go home, decompress, normal life. Most line guys had 3-4 years of mission work, 5-6 days a week with no real break until they got a front office job or farmed out of the squadron. There was talk when I went back manned a few years ago of getting a more “normal” type of “deployment cycle” going so people got some time off the line, but manning needed a major plus up first. Not sure how that is going. All that being said, his job stress certainly could have played a role in this unfortunate situation.

Ridiculous. Next you will tell me that they aren’t teaching fix-to-fix in UPT anymore. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I'm not a movie fanatic nor a particular movie critic; I like what I like. I don't like being "woken," I don't like being lectured to, I want to be entertained. If stuff blows up, beautiful women are scantily clad yet somehow classy and available, and the writing is good, I'm in. The James Bond films before he got 'woke,' are in my comfort zone. I like semi-historical films as well. I have not seen, nor planning to see, most of the nominated films for this year. 1917 was a good solid movie. Well done, authentic in the details, interesting story. But to answer your question, Tarentino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" was a better, more entertaining move to me. The characters, the actors' portrayals, the writing, and the weird ending entertained me.

Something is not adding up. BACN usually hangs out in the bozosphere, way out of the reach of any RPG, SA-7, or rock that the Taliban can throw at it. Also, this is not the wreckage of a plane that slammed down from thousands of feet in the air. The fuselage is largely intact, and it almost looks like the fire started from inside given the burn patterns.

Production wise for most of the movie it tried too hard with the military cliches and emotional triggers. AD/Veteran may nitpick at the technical details/inaccuracies. However, the story itself is something else. 90% of the acting was average at best. The emotional tolls/impact to the families and veterans were highlighted very well (especially at the end). Overall, didn't care much for the production but grateful for someone to make the movie and pays respect/tribute to not just a war hero but veterans in general. I was in a large theater, it was only about 3% filled but you can hear the audience sobbing through out the movie. Interested to hear the review from a PJ's perspective.

1. It's exactly how possession charges work. Never done a dorm sweep before? What do you think happens to the young airmen when drugs are found in their room? "Oh, it wasn't mine, shirt, my crazy girlfriend must have left them here." 2. I've made decisions for my family over my career. None of them involved bringing narcotics to the house. Or really, breaking any federal laws. 3. Yes, dude. I've been flying the B-1 for 13 years. Four deployments. I've dropped weapons in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Like...hundreds of weapons. Couldn't tell you how many people, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's over a thousand. None of that made me curl up with a crazy stripper high on drugs who brought that shit into the house. OSI didn't entrap him into letting drugs come into the house. I might buy that argument if the stripper was an OSI agent...but she wasn't. This dude made a whole series of really bad decisions before OSI got the first phone call.

The Human Performance Team (HPT) in the MQ-9 enterprise is a great support mechanism for the Pilots, SOs, and Intel. It's modeled similar to Medics and Psychs in the SOF world. The mental and spiritual pros are have the same clearances as the operators and make regular walk-thrus during ops for site visits. You can see the visible change in someone when they realize that it's ok to talk to someone, that they can find a room in the SCIF and just really open up about the stress to someone.

It is what happens when you press DIR on your FMS...

"The best" fluctuates as contracts change. Also part of what is considered "the best" is where your seniority will be for the duration of your expected career, and in what base/equipment/seat. There is no perfect contract at any airline. A contract governs everything from pay, work rules, profit sharing, sick, vacation, trip construction, medical, insurance, scope, hotels, and just about everything else that can affect your pay/QOL/time off. Regarding seniority, movement is dependent on 2 things: growth and retirements. Only one of those is certain: retirements. Growth can be halted overnight (or be negative if planes are parked overnight if say a 9/11, recession, or fuel price spike happens). Airlines are a for profit company...when planes get parked overnight, pilots are on the street (furloughed). So financial health of a company also matters in that equation, to some degree. Delta has hired around 5k pilots since 2014. A lot of those are younger guys, and you'll never be senior to them if you are getting in now. UA has hired less than that, and AA has hired even less. Also, AA has hired a lot of Envoy flows who waited 15-18 years to flow, and they will age out sooner than many off the street hires. In other words, a lot of their hires have been older than the guys Delta has hired. The result of that is AA has the most retirements over the next 10-15 years, so movement there will be the most rapid. United is close behind them with retirements. Then comes Delta, then the rest (I think FDX, then UPS). SWA/JB/the others all have a lot fewer retirements. This means slower movement...although likely more growth at JB/Spirit/Frontier which kind of makes up for the lack of retirements, assuming the growth isn't interrupted. Also of note, Delta JVs out a lot of their wide body flying, so AA/UA have a lot more own metal wide body flying, thus more widebodies, thus more lucrative WB jobs in both seats, which will affect relative seniority, even on the NB side. A lot of guys will choose WB FO over NB CA. Overall, I'd say Delta's contract is the best, followed by United, then AA. But each has strengths and weaknesses. Delta's profit sharing is insane (16.6% for 2019...extra 2 months of pay). Their sick accrual is also leaps and bounds above everyone else. United has airport reserve (fk that). AA has lots of weak points. But all 3 are in negotiations, and those things are all on the table and could shift. Right now Doug Parker at AA told the pilots they have $150mil to make whatever improvements they want...that's chump change for 15,500 pilots given how far behind their contract is. United has Scott Kirby at the helm hellbent on more/larger RJs. Delta mgmt just filed for mediation, seemingly far apart with DALPA's asks. Right now, the financials of Delta support the most gains (or at least keeping the best contract), followed by UAL, followed by YUGELY debt-ridden AA. Doug says he will pay all that debt down. I'll believe it when I see it...but I doubt he gives AA pilots a contract anywhere near Delta's. But their seniority movement and bases may work better for people who live in say Dallas Charlotte or Miami. All 3 have fairly quick upgrades (albeit in less desirable bases), unheard of seniority movement/hiring/retirements, and are all likely going to trade off who "the best" is over the next 10/20/30 years. None has ever stayed "the best" forever. Southwest and JB have never furloughed, never gone through a bankruptcy, and have always remained profitable, even when the legacies hemorrhaged money, furloughed, went through BK, and all came out of BK with garbage concessionary contracts. The pecking order is this: go to who calls first. If 2 or 3 call, go to whichever one has a domicile you want to live at. If you live in a domicile of another airline you want to work at, keep applying there. Commuting to the airline with the best contract is worse than driving to work under the worst contract. For anyone considering entering the airline industry, or anyone who is in the airline industry and hasn't read it, I urge you to read "Hard Landing." It gives a nice history of the industry, all the players, and how all the airlines came to be. It gives a good history of who the biggest and best airline has been throughout history. In closing, there is a pecking order, but it changes. You won't know where you will end up in that pecking order until you retire. In 20-30 years from now when you retire from the airlines, the landscape will have changed tremendously, as will the pecking order. Best advice: make the best decision for you and your family now, sock money away and live like an FO even when you upgrade, hold on, and enjoy the ride. The only constant in the airlines is change. A lot of the bros getting into the industry in the last 5ish years only know the good times. It will not be good forever. When it isn't good, the pecking order of which airlines are the best tends to change. Delta is printing money right now with unprecedented profitability. But if you got hired there in the early 90s you got furloughed, went through a bankruptcy, lost a pension, took a few pay cuts, and likely never saw the left seat. But if you were hired there 5 years ago, you would be a NB Captain or WB FO today. TL;DR: Best contracts: Delta, United, American Best movement ahead: American, United, Delta Best financial health: Delta, United, American

I only flew the line for a year before going on mil leave; and I've been gone for 4 years. HOWEVER, I commuted to NYC from Nola, held pretty much all international on the 767 that whole year and still flew Eagles in the Guard. I will more than likely be a commuter my whole career because I don't want to live anywhere we have a base. It's all what's important to you - I'll commute to wide body FO with good seniority when I go back next year. Will I make more money than the guys in base? Nope. Will I be just as happy because I'm living where I want to live - YEP! Airline job is truly choose your own adventure; which is one thing I love about it.

Not today, OSI. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I hear what you're saying and there is a point to doing things in sims vs. the proverbial 10k an hour KC-135R pattern ride to win the battle on training beans Just my two old fart cents, we had it right in the 80's for heavies. Flew as required the big MDS for ops, tng and such. Flew the ACE jets for training and proficiency (Tweet, 38s). For budgetary sanity, for the heavies, give them an economical trainer and replace just 10-20% of their training hours and get some Vitamin G once in a while. I can only speak for myself but I would have traded 50 training hours for 100 hours in a modern aero aircraft when at homeplate and not burining dinos over the desert. I like the GameBird https://talkbusiness.net/2017/09/faa-certifies-gamebird-aerobatic-airplane-to-be-built-in-bentonville/ Close visual formation, aerobatics, VFR by clock map ground, etc... not that those specific skills are applicable to their MWS but the fundamentals to them build strong pilots (multi-tasking, quick cross check, thinking ahead, etc...) After 20 years of flying heavies and sometimes flying GA, I can tell I'm in better pilot after a period of keeping those basic pilot muscles strong in a plane without George, autothrottles, TCAS, etc...

Ok, she's raped while wearing the uniform, but is ashamed and/or doesn't trust the system (which I actually concur with), but claims she talks about the today but doesn't name names while serving as a sitting senator and can damn sure ensure justice is done because Big Blue would roll over so fast to bring some drunk idiot out of retirement to prosecute him (assumption), she, having been a Hawg driver couldn't calculate that speed. I'm looking a little squinty eyed at the senator from Arizona... Oh, and "ewww…"