I don't usually worry much. I don't have time for it. And worry tends to take years off ones life.
My anxiety level has been stedily increasing while I wait to see how the men and women who make the big decisions at the top to decide what our collective fates are going to be. It's not a very desireable position to find oneself in, yet this is the very stark reality of the airline employee.
I tend to look at my timing and years of employment at the airlines as being serendipitous, somewhat similar to my timing with the military draft in the United States.
Growing up, I worried about the real possibility that I would be forced into military service, like so many before me had done. Don't misunderstand me. I have a profound and deeply seeded repect and admiration for my fellow Americans who have served and continue to serve to protect the interests and freedoms of America. I just knew, even as a child, that military service was not for me. Growing up in a military family, that desire to serve as my father had, proudly and without question, did not translate to me. Over the years, I have joked that I did "serve" as a military dependant for 18 years!
When I was 14 years old, the draft was disbanded, but the registration for the draft continued, and I never once hesitated to comply. Ironically, as a senior in high school, I came within weeks of actually enlisting, with the understanding that I would complete college and then attend flight training as an officer. But just before I signed on the dotted line, the Marine Corps had scrapped it's orginal plans for the F-18 (due to continuing design flaws with the bird) and that decision dashed any hopes I had to attend flight training school.
In the 80's, I made several attempts to become a flight attendant. My language skills in Japanese, I thought, were my golden ticket to acceptance, but for whatever reason, I could never get past the final level of interviews. My attempts to get hired on at Western, Delta and American all went sour. And for whatever reason, I never applied at United, my current employer. Fate has a funny sense of humor.
When I hired on in 1998, it was the upside of a real financial boon for the airlines. Thousands of people were hired after me and I was feeling confident that things would continue to go well for us. Then 9/11 happened, and we were one of the targeted airlines. Within 15 months, UAL filed for Chapter 11 bankruptsy protection and my whole world went into a tailspin. Suddenly, my future was unclear, my plans were all placed in jeopardy and what was waiting around the corner for me was completely unknown.
In the three years that I endured my airline's bankruptsy, I survived the paycuts and the job cuts and the base closures. Every week, there was some other cut being made - some other service that was being changed or reduced or discontinued. It was a very volitile time in my work history. I felt that once again I had skirted danger by being "senior" enough to be able to keep my job and not have to experience the craziness of furloughs. I still thank the fates that I'm still here. Knock on wood.
This morning, I heard on the radio that Frontier Airlines (F9) had been forced by, of all things, its credit card processor into Chapter 11 bankruptsy protection. I have some good friend who work there, some I knew here at UAL prior to our own bankruptsy, who left for greener pastures at F9. This announcement must have everyone over there totally on edge -- just as I was when UAL filed in 2002. Those of us still here endured deep paycuts, job reductions, benefit reductions and the uncertainty that bankruptsy generates. It causes added stress and that anxiety that I spoke of earlier, more so now that the US economy is in recession.
To my friends at F9 -- hang in there. Plan for the worst, hope for the best and try to keep everything in perspective. Continue to go to work and stay focused on you job (man, I sound like a freakin' CEO trying to calm down the employee base). This is how I made it through. F9 is a great airline and I really don't see it going under. My heart tells me that and I trust my heart and my instincts. I hope I'm not wrong so I focus positive energy and thoughts your way.
You will survive!
