What is Digg?Sponsored by Best Buy
Best Buy finds gold in Iowa. view!
youtube.com - Best Buy employee, Danielle Kelly, sings her way into holiday campaign.
103 Comments
- joshuaer, on 07/21/2009, -0/+101I live in a Van down by the airport!
- ZiggityZhang, on 07/21/2009, -1/+95Actually this was a pretty interesting read.
- PeanutCheeseBar, on 07/21/2009, -4/+75In other news, there is still no logical explanation for the frequent tornadoes that plague LAX.
- cramd, on 07/21/2009, -1/+61I was quite surprised by the low wage they command. There is no way I would choose to be away from my family for half of each month for $70,000/year. And yes, if I push came to shove I would do what needed to be done, but I would not CHOOSE a career that would force me to be away from my family like that.
- cfisavant, on 07/21/2009, -0/+51Just hope your pilot (who makes $25,000-$75,000/yr and lives in a trailer) isn't stressed by money woes as he flies you around the thunderstorms
- mikemehak, on 07/21/2009, -1/+42your bus driver, who makes $20,000 - $30,000 a year probably lives in a ***** hole and has to deal with his passengers on a regular basis is probably stressed just as much and more likely to kill you.
- 1337BEEF, on 07/21/2009, -1/+29I'm going to college for aviation in the fall. Even seeing things like this doesn't deter me from wanting to go into the industry.
It's a passion for flying that pilots posses that keep them around, despite what may seem to be less than ideal conditions. - osok, on 07/21/2009, -0/+21Mine is a similar story to feebes, I spent 100k on my aviation education, few left seat for 5 years, then right for 2. the first year was great, but after awhile, the job feels like your a underpaid, disrespected glorified bus driver.
The airline industry is done. yea its still twitching, but its pretty much brain dead at this point. Oil costs will be the final nail in the coffin, but its already well on its way.
While i agree, wage cuts are being experienced in all sectors, the aviation sector it pretty abysmal. My decision to quit had more to do with the stupid hours, total abuse and incompetent management i had to deal with on a daily basis.
the glory of being an airline pilot died on sept 11 2001. - cfisavant, on 07/21/2009, -0/+19The best part is that $70,000 is only for the top half of the contract companies or after you've made it to a major airline. For most pilots, it takes 5-10 years just to make $70,000. Average starting wage is $23,000.
- feebes, on 07/21/2009, -0/+18I have a passion for aviation, probably more of a passion than you do. I currently am a regional jet pilot trying to leave the industry like a lot of my peers. You are making a mistake, I promise you. You wont know it until you finally get your job as a pilot......but remember this post, it will still be here....
- JoeParanoid, on 07/21/2009, -0/+16The LAX parking lot is also THE place to leave cars with dead bodies in the trunk.
- tamman2000, on 07/21/2009, -0/+11You never work if you love what you do.
- kendetroit, on 07/21/2009, -3/+13The checkout girl at WalMart was just telling me that same story. She hated the long hours that brain surgeons kept, so when it came time for her to chose her job, she just chose the WalMart to be close to home.
lol@chosing jobs. - mikemehak, on 07/21/2009, -20/+29interesting read, but I felt like I was supposed to feel bad for these pilots.
Airline pilots are not the only people who are required to spend time away from home. Live in hotels, etc... away from our family.
While an airline pilot is a pretty kick ass job, it's no longer a job that labels you a hero.
I can't feel bad for them because they don't make enough money, have trouble climbing the ranks, etc... They chose the industry, they knew what they were getting into. They are no different than millions of other people trying to make it in various other tough industries. - Ebacherville, on 07/21/2009, -0/+8yes but thats there second home, most of these people have a home kids and wife to support too, I san next to a piliot one flight and really they work there buts off for very little cash.. However I like this live on site and compress your work schedule idea, i used ot work for a place that has 3 12 hour days on 4 off 4 12's on and 3 off and it was great , then i moved toa swing shift.. you would work 8 on 8 off 8 on 8 off 8 on 8 off 8 on 8 off 8 on or something like that it work ed out you got a full weeks work done in three and a half days .. that would have been sweet if you could live in a camper durring the off time, I had a 30 minute commute in there, so I had 7 hours to get some sleep..
- tamman2000, on 07/21/2009, -0/+7When most of these people chose these careers their prospects looked much brighter.
Before 9/11 wide body captains made at least 150K usually over 200K, and it was more common to be able to get based out of the local airport. Since 9/11 the industry has cut back quite a bit, part of that was basing flight crews out of fewer places... Some people moved their families to their new base city, others (like the lot b crowd) didn't. - leif777, on 07/21/2009, -2/+9I've got a feeling there's a lot of things going on in LOT B that their spouses wouldn't like to know. Flight attendants and pilots are notorious for promiscuity and I bet most of those campers are rockin' while they're not rollin', if you know what I mean.
- jshhmr, on 07/21/2009, -0/+6When I was a crew scheduler, I made a phone call to a Captain to let him know his schedule changed. His wife answered the phone, and replied "No, he's not here, but I can give you the number to the bitch he's shackin' up with in San Antonio! I have it on the phone bill if you want it!" Needless to say I just paged him.
- Retrodigg123, on 07/21/2009, -1/+7Im heading off to an aviation college soon aswell, because I love the beauty of flight, not the wages how big or small.. its hardly being a slave worker, idiot, its called loving your job..
- brad3378, on 07/21/2009, -0/+6Very true - More people die from ground based transportation than from falling from the sky.
Pilots don't have to worry about being robbed at knife-point as often as bus drivers or taxi drivers either. - 1337BEEF, on 07/21/2009, -0/+5You act as if no one else in the workforce are seeing salary cuts...
- airstrike, on 07/21/2009, -0/+5now, these two comments above me, on the other hand...
- Retrodigg123, on 07/21/2009, -1/+6Wrong again Earl.. obviously your hippy mind sees every company as a slave driving powerhouse that feeds on babies and kittens.. working for an airline means pay, concessions (for retirement) and for me, the ability to practice and experience something ive loved since forever really.. if something the company does annoys me, I will quit, regardless.
- Njorgen, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4This article is written like a novel, all we need now is a plot.......one motor home to rule them all!
- cat5, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4Why does this feel like an early chapter of Snow Crash somehow - just need some Fiber Optics now....
- rif42, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4Try something new, read the article before commenting.
- znicket, on 07/21/2009, -2/+6They are gunning for the captain´s chair - which will give them considerably more. Much more.
- ridium, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4I hope the spouses of the people living in Lot B continue to support them. It's tough being away from your family like that.
After awhile you get pretty specialized in your career and its hard to move around. Even with a pay cut, sticking with the same airline is often better than leaving. If it weren't, the concessions pilots, mechanics, and flight attends have to make wouldn't happen. - pjs1840, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4@osok - You said "The airline industry is done. yea its still twitching, but its pretty much brain dead at this point. Oil costs will be the final nail in the coffin, but its already well on its way."
Since you're obviously more knowledgeable about this subject than I am, can you expand on that? Are you saying that commercial airliners are going to cease to exist? And people will just stop flying? I just have a hard time picturing that... - DillonHinson, on 07/21/2009, -1/+5$70,000 isn't that bad. If you think about, much less is coming out of that salary for things like gas and utilities because they live a money-saving life out of a trailer.
- BIOHazard87, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4Weeed!
- feebes, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4Not really. Fewer and fewer military pilots are coming out today anyway. They have longer obligations plus the military is training fewer and fewer pilots. When I was a flight instructor I trained many military guys to teach them the civilian side of things....almost all of them were headed to freight (UPS, FEDEX) and not commercial passenger jobs.
What you do see sometimes is ragging on guys who went to a dedicated aviation college (we call guys who went to Embry Riddle "Riddle Rats").
Here's another tip to the uninitiated. Don't go to an aviation college. I have never flown with a graduate of Riddle who didn't regret it. It doesn't get you hired any faster than somebody who just goes to a flight school and earns their ratings (don't believe the hype those school are selling you), its much cheaper to go to a normal college, or not go to college at all (its not necessary to get hired at most regionals), and what you are left with is a degree in "aviation science" or something equally useless. Guys regret it because they get their pilot job and realize if the crap hits the fan they have a degree that is worthless. Not to mention they are flying with guys who got their ratings in 8 months at a dedicated school and then got the job long before they did, therefore accruing seniority and flight time long before Riddle gave them a degree. All of them wish they had a degree in business or something to fall back on. - brad3378, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4Just out of curiosity,
Is there ever trash talking between pilots who come out of the Military debt free versus pilots who graduate from flight school college with $100,000 in debt? - cramd, on 07/21/2009, -1/+5What s the LOL part of "choosing" a job? When looking at a career what the future holds for you as far as home life is something that most take in to account. Of course this type of home life is not for everyone, and that is good as we need pilots and soldiers.
I also think you are romanticizing the life of a pilot a bit with your comment above. I am confused as to if you are suggesting that if one decides to not be a pilot or a brain surgeon that they are therefore destined for a life of minimum wage?
I make considerably more than the pilot in this article, and I am home every evening with my family, and I would not change that for double my earnings. - mattropolis, on 07/21/2009, -0/+3Considering real-estate prices and taxes that are going up in California - these seems like a really smart way to get out from under the economy's fallout...
Despite loving the work and being able to make these sacrifices; I don't like this turn of events. It seems more like Hoover-villes than a move towards enhancing these peoples lives. Living in a parking lot sure doesn't sound like a move in the right direction. Will other pilots be 'forced' to adopt this practice as well to stay competitive/available? - DillonHinson, on 07/21/2009, -0/+3This is a really cool thing. Think about it for a second....they're colonizing a PARKING LOT! Now that's being creative. They have a community garden, their own set of "laws" and a mayor.
- canyonblue, on 07/21/2009, -1/+4I think the people are all screwed up on the meaning of "commuting." All these guys in the Lot B are commuters, none of them "live" there. They fly in the night before a trip, sleep in the camper and then go off flying for 3-5 days. When they get back they grab a quick, free flight to their real house or perhaps spend one more night in the camper since perhaps it is too late to catch a flight home. The result is perhaps 4-6 nights a month in the camper. This is an alternative to hotel rooms (pricey) or a "crash pad" which is a dive apartment shared by several pilots or flight attendants (most of which aren't there at the same time due to different schedules.)
For me, I just live in domicle, ie. I live where I fly. I made that choice, but for some I understand it isn't possible or they choose a different lifestyle. For example I fly out of Chicago and live in the 'burbs and it is excellent. But some want a horse farm in a rural area, or to live in the mountains, or have family they need to stay close to elsewhere and then commuting because important.
At the major airline I fly for over 50% of pilots commute to base from over 200 miles away. - MAGZine, on 07/21/2009, -0/+3Makes sense, though, right?
You're going to be a pilot to make money? No. You're going to be a doctor if you want to make money - you be a pilot if you love to fly and travel. - vikblazin, on 07/22/2009, -0/+3osok needs more diggs.
- osok, on 07/22/2009, -0/+3Hey you have me wrong.. I am not convinced about the whole human caused global warming hypothesis, I simply see that:
1), we are exponentially reaching the end of cheap to get at oil.
2) there is only so much developed and available non oil energy.
Hydrogen at this point is a flop. People keep calling it a fuel, but i defy someone to show me where I can stick a pipe in the ground and have pure hydrogen come out. Hydrogen must be cracked from something else, water, hydrocarbons etc. Hydrogen is an energy transfer medium, and a rather lossy one at that.
Electricity is going to be the energy medium of the future, be it some genius inventing MR Fusion or a massive expanding of fission reactors. or paving the Sahara with solar panels. the world needs X amount of joules of energy per year. The big problem is figuring out how to move that electrical energy about. I dont think battery energy density will ever reach the levels needed for long distance flight, but trains solve a number of problems. they are almost if not just as fast as aircraft, they are safer, and its easy to transport electrical energy to them via wires and energized rails.
We have a big problem way beyond the carbon problem(which I personally think is hype). we either at this point need to think seriously about how we are going to move ourselves in the next 100 years, or learn to walk.. alot..
also don't get me wrong about flying, I love it. It aches my heart to see my first chosen career die. but I'm also a realist. Flying is an incredibly energy inefficient transport method. think about it, an airplane's job is to fight gravity the whole way. its like driving up hill both ways on every trip.
think about it, does it really matter if you spend 2 hours waiting, in airports, followed by 4 hours flying, or 6 hours on a train, lots of leg room, maybe even sleeping in a real bed to get to your destination? its not as bad as you think, and i think the world is going to catch on. In the future, airplanes will = hassle, invasion of privacy and waste.
I once took the TGV (high speed, but still slow by modern standards) night train from southern Italy to Amsterdam, left at 8:00 as I recall, slept in a real bed, not some folded down seat, and was just finishing breakfast when we pulled into Amsterdam station. Now to me, that is a time saver. I traveled during time that is normally wasted sleeping. I didn't have to change planes, I didn't have to deal with security, and I arrived rested and relaxed hardly having any realization of the 12 hours that passed. Fly for 12 hours on an airplane (I did it at least once or twice a week dead heading and every other day PIC) and you feel every minute. - Trick07, on 07/21/2009, -0/+3You don't know who Shanna is? Surely, you must be kidding!
- HavocXphere, on 07/21/2009, -1/+4Nice article.
It doesn't sound ideal, but given the fact that these people voluntarily live there it would appear that Lot B > commute.
I could easily live with the cramped & spartan surroundings. But the noise....Nope. - dienaked, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2I remember when people working for Intel in Portland did this. Most of them owned houses, a lot of times up near Seattle.
The way the shifts worked, 12 hours for 3 days, then 4 days off, then 12 hours for 4 days and 3 days off, they still spent a lot of their time in their real homes.
It was definitely not as noisy as an airport though. - kinseyincanada, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2yea you must be a complete idiot to have a job you absolutely love, just think about that waking up every morning and going to a job you really care about and doing the thing you are most passionate about for a living.
- bigbadgoat, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2Believe ir or not Earl, people who have careers doing things they love are much, much happier. Employers love having employees who love their job because they're more productive, they don't waste as much time because their work is enjoyable. Increased productivity leads to better performance as a company which leads to higher profits, and if the company values their employees (and many do), those profits trickle their way down to the people who generate them.
It's a win-win situation. I've worked in a job where I woke up every morning and looked forward to what I was going to do at work that day, and often found myself working late unintentionally because I was so into my work I lost track of time. I was compensated for every hour I worked, and the employers didn't mind because it meant less work before deadlines, and the time balanced out in the end. If some bug came up and they needed me to spend some extra time troubleshooting, I was available to do that. It worked out very well. I was paid well, but that didn't matter too much for me. Unfortunately it was a temporary contract, otherwise I would still be working there.
I'll take a job I love with an average salary over a crap job with better pay any day. See I value my happiness more than I value my portfolio. Money isn't everything in the big picture. - memills, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2A quieter option. Arrange to overnight a couple nights a week on a boat in Marina del Rey. Most of them are rarely used anyway, and in this economy, boat owners might use a few more bucks to pay their slip fees. Can't overnight more than 2 nites a week tho, per MdR rules.
Works for me. - frequentFlyer, on 07/22/2009, -0/+2True. If you like to fly, fly cropdusters.
- d3dm, on 07/22/2009, -0/+2"People will in the future simply have to get used to traveling slower/less. we have been living outside the planets means for 50 years now. its not sustainable."
Good luck getting elected while running on that platform, Mr. Gore. - ttamshadbolt, on 07/22/2009, -0/+2I don't think the article was meant to make you feel bad for them - I thought it was just interesting that they literally live in the car park. Just an interesting story - don't think too hard about it.
- smacksaw, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2The guy from the article was a Captain and got demoted.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 106 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is