Swoop pay

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altiplano
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by altiplano »

Handover wrote: Thu May 30, 2019 5:34 am
altiplano wrote: Wed May 29, 2019 3:51 pm Oh the weight of all the strawmen and ignorance is crushing me... let alone the personal attacks now!

You guys don't understand and can't even support your own argument.
Do you ever listen to yourself?
I can't listen to that. It's writing... Do you talk and listen while you write?

Do you have any meaningful contribution? Or just provoke from the sidelines?

This discussion is not personal, I'm not pointing a finger at you or your colleagues as a Sunwing pilot and saying you're doing anything wrong, my issue is with the liberal and inappropriate use of unlicensed foreign workers that a corporation has built their business on against the greater public good.

I'm not making any personal attacks.

Yet all I get back are personal attacks, fallacies, faulty parallelism presented as an argument.

Speaks for itself how little some posters understand it since they can't draw a direct reason to support it...

Getting to live in cool places and isolated international fire fighting contracts, or expats living and working overseas "for the last hundred years" in places without their own supply of pilots to support their industry... Crown Corporation Air Canada is the problem, I'm the problem, I'm an asshole... LOL... not much there...

Fact is before I ever worked at where I work today, I was writing my MP about the illegal labour practises and liberties Sunwing has been afforded, they hired token Canadians and crewed primarily with TFWs... they have been forced to scale that back somewhat now, why? because it's wrong, but nonetheless it continues to a significant extent... and it's inappropriate in a developed nation with a proportionally large industry and supply of labour that is permitted to continue at all.
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flyzam
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by flyzam »

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munzil
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by munzil »

altiplano wrote: Thu May 30, 2019 6:36 am and it's inappropriate in a developed nation with a proportionally large industry and supply of labour that is permitted to continue at all.
Altiplano, there have been plenty of good points made so far, and you have dismissed them. Your position is so far built in you refuse to see anyone elses points and stand on the top of the hill shouting out to all that will hear that only your point has any validity and everyone doesn't understand. Are you surprised you have received some personal attacks? (no where did I see you called an asshole)

That aside, the States imports foreign works by the droves with the H1B and also in our industry via the E3 visa - inappropriate or not - people with much more say thank you have have dictated it as appropriate.

You know as well as I do that Canadians would abscond en mass if the yanks opened it up to us. All of them justifying it in some way or another.

I can't speak for you, but I'm sure if you lost your job and it was open, I bet you'd find a way to justify it. It's a global world now.

You've made your point - people disagree with it. Live with it and move on.
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altiplano
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by altiplano »

I dismiss them because they are fallacy and don't actually oppose my argument.

Maybe you didn't call me an asshole, but you did directly insult me.

I get that the fact you immigrated here and work here now, and this topic is a sore spot... for the record I don't think you stole anyone's job, I think people like you are what we need in this country, and I think the pressure put on the government and Sunwing to hire more Canadians (or PRs) perhaps before you arrived or were aware of it, is likely the reason you work there today.

It isn't just me, my factual statement aren't made up, and they are the views largely shared by the largest pilot association in the world.

They are also being addressed to an extent in a game of whack-a-mole, as circumvention by your employer is closed, another loop hole is exploited.

Here's some more reading for you:
ALPA wrote:Some Canadian airlines use foreign pilots to augment their rosters on a seasonal basis. At times, some airlines have had more foreign pilots on their rosters, seasonally, than Canadians. This puts Canadian flightcrew members at a competitive disadvantage right in their own domestic market.

The issue of foreign pilots operating in Canada touches upon several different government departments. It is a complex issue that is not amenable to a single solution. A change of policy and/or procedure in one department may still leave the airline piloting profession vulnerable to the other government departments. Canadian airlines have several approaches or combinations of approaches by which they may employ or otherwise use foreign nationals to fly their aircraft.

The three main avenues are:

1. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program
(TFWP) administered by the Employment and
Social Development Canada (ESDC);

2. Reciprocal agreements administered by
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC);
and

3. Wet-leases, i.e., providing aircraft with foreign
crews, under the Transport Canada policy
administered by the Canadian Transportation
Agency (CTA).

Temporary Foreign Worker Program

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program was designed to allow foreign workers into Canada, on a temporary basis, when required to fill genuine job shortages. For example, TFWP is used to import seasonal agricultural workers and bring in a very large number of highly skilled workers to fill positions in the oil sands projects.

Airlines seeking to hire foreign pilots under the program formerly stipulated that they sought only pilots type-rated on Boeing 737 Next Generation airplanes. As few unemployed pilots in Canada possessed that particular rating, the airlines were able to show that there was a labour shortage, enabling them to hire foreign pilots
under the program.

Recent positive reforms to the TFWP have eliminated that problem. New guidelines were announced in the government’s 2014 report, “Overhauling the Temporary Foreign Worker Program: Putting Canadians First.” The labour market test that allows employers to bring temporary foreign workers into Canada has been transformed from a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) to a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). Under the LMIA, employers must provide additional information, such as the number of Canadians who applied for the job, the number of Canadians interviewed, and an explanation of why Canadians were not hired.

The issue of foreign pilots in Canada is explicitly addressed. Beginning July 1, 2014, a number of changes have been implemented for airlines requesting foreign pilots through a LMIA:

Effective July 1, 2014, airlines must:
>> meet the minimum advertising requirements for high-wage occupations, and specify the following criteria in their job posting:
» no more than a maximum of 4,000 flight
hours for a first officer and 5,000 hours for
a captain as required experience;
» possess a valid commercial pilot’s licence;
» require English and/or French language
proficiency;
» include industry-standard medical testing
requirements for commercial flight; and
» state both the legal and common names of
the airline operating in Canada.

Additionally, airlines:
>> must not include as an essential requirement the necessity of holding a type rating;
>> must indicate when training bonds will be applied;
>> must negotiate a transition plan with ESDC documenting the airline’s future efforts to decrease reliance on foreign pilots while increasing its Canadian pilot contingent; and
>> must submit LMIA applications at least three months before the first day of work.

In the first test of these guidelines, the ESDC refused a sun destination airline’s application for temporary foreign worker pilots for the 2015–2016
season. ESDC cited the LMIA, which determined that sufficient recruitment potential existed
in Canada for the hiring of Canadian pilots. Therefore, resort to the TFWP was unnecessary. The labour minister announced in March 2016
that a complete review of the TFWP would be undertaken during the coming year.

Reciprocal Agreements

This program was designed to allow a foreign worker into Canada if that created a reciprocal opportunity for a Canadian to be employed abroad. ALPA discovered that far more foreign pilots were employed in Canada than Canadians were flying abroad under reciprocal agreements—no effective reciprocity existed.

Immigration officers now vet the agreements for appropriate reciprocity. However, they do not enforce reciprocity on a one-to-one basis, but follow guidelines that allow an exchange in the 75 percent range—i.e., for 100 foreign workers in Canada, there should be 75 employment opportunities for Canadians abroad.

Foreign Licence Validation Certificates

A foreign pilot entering Canada with an appropriate work permit must obtain a Canadian licence or have his or her foreign flight crew licences validated by Transport Canada for use on Canadian aircraft.

Under the regulation, Standard 421.07 identifies a number of purposes for which a foreign licence validation certificate (FLVC) may be issued. This list of specific, narrow purposes was intended to restrict the types of operations for which FLVCs may be issued. However, none of the purposes listed correspond to normal airline operations. Thus, the only possible exception is if the minister of transport finds the issuance of an FLVC to be in the “public interest and not likely to affect aviation safety.” That exception should also be read restrictively in light of the language that precedes it. The French version of the CAR standards is even more restrictive, adding words to the effect of “in exceptional circumstances.” Normal, everyday airline operations are the rule, not the exception. Although the minister may issue FLVCs in the public interest, ALPA contends that no public interest is served by issuing FLVCs to foreign flightcrew members operating for airlines in Canada.

Some justification for the issuance of FLVCs has been that Canadian pilots are able to enjoy similar privileges when flying abroad on a seasonal basis. Recently, however, the legitimacy of that rationale has come into question. The EU appears to be in the process of requiring an EU licence after an initial, one-time issuance of an FLVC. In addition, we see an inconsistent application of that regulation between EU countries.In the United States, a newly instituted licensing program is in effect. An applicant for a U.S. air transport pilot licence (ATPL) who currently holds a Canadian ATPL must now take additional instruction from an authorized training provider for the ATP certificate. This illustrates that there is no reciprocal recognition of credentials.

Wet-Leases

Foreign pilots also enter Canada as crewmembers on wet-leased aircraft. The Canadian air transport regulations place no restrictions on the number of aircraft or crews that a Canadian airline can lease, nor on the duration of the lease. The airlines can and do seasonally supplement their fleets with many aircraft and flight crews on wet-leases.In 2013, after consultations with stakeholders, Transport Canada formulated a wet-lease policy that limits the number of aircraft that an airline may wet-lease to 20 percent of the number of Canadian-registered aircraft on the airline’s air operating certificate (AOC) at the time of application.

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) administers the wet-lease policy and approves or denies applications. It has now administered the
policy for some time, and the airline industry has experience with the application and the policy’s unintended or anomalous consequences. The policy provides that, for wet-leases of more than 30 days, a number of aircraft equal to 20 percent of the number of Canadian-registered aircraft on the lessee’s AOC at the time of application may be leased from foreign lessors.

However, in its first decision—made just three months after the new policy was announced—the CTA departed from the clear wording of the policy by basing the 20 percent on the number of aircraft that were proposed to be used rather than those on the AOC at time of application. That had the effect of inflating the number of aircraft that could be wet-leased. The minister of transport then issued a directive to the agency instructing it to strictly adhere to the policy language.

Nevertheless, the mischief wrought by the misinterpretation of policy—the inflation of the number of wet-leased aircraft—continues. The air transport regulations (ATRs) at 8.2(2) stipulate that an application must be filed at least 45 days before the first planned flight. Now applicants are filing far in advance of that time frame. For instance, an airline may apply in March, when it uses the most aircraft for southern sun flights, for a wet-lease to be conducted November through April of the following winter.

In this example, the fleet in March is greatly supplemented by seasonally dry-leased foreign aircraft put in Canadian registry. These aircraft are most often flown by foreign pilots obtained through the TFWP; that has the anomalous effect of inflating the number of foreign pilots allowed under wet-leases based on the success of obtaining foreign pilots through the TFWP. \

As noted, Transport Canada formulated the wet-lease policy after consulting with the Canadian airline industry. Any sound public policy must be based on a thorough understanding of the issues and the reasons behind the creation of the policy. That concept has become problematic with CTA decisions.

The backgrounder to Canada’s wet-lease policy, which was issued in August 2013, provides some of the possible rationales for wet-leases:

“Wet-leasing is largely used by air carriers to accommodate unforeseen shortfalls in aircraft availability due to technical or mechanical issues, or to manage aircraft fleets between affiliated companies. It is not uncommon for wet-leased aircraft to be used to acquire aircraft for temporary or seasonal services. Such longer-term wet-leases can provide a cost-efficient way of introducing supplemental capacity into an airline’s fleet in order to meet fluctuations in demand. At the same time, the introduction of seasonal capacity in Canada through wet leasing has implications for the wider Canadian market for international air services.”

The ATRs at 8.2(3) (j) stipulate that the lessee provide an explanation of why the wet-lease is necessary. However, perusing CTA’s decisions reveals that the agency does not provide any rationale other than a rote statement that the applicant “meets the requirements of 8.2 of the ATRs.”

As it stands, it is impossible to ascertain why wet-lease applications are being approved. From a policy perspective, Transport Canada cannot make
a reasoned policy to cover wet-leasing without knowing the purpose for which the applications are granted. The reason for a wet-lease may vary from technical or mechanical issues to seasonal services, but CTA decisions consistently omit that critical aspect.
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SPR
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by SPR »

You know why pay at Swoop is so terrible? Because guys like altiplano advocated against the One List, even though they had no dog in the fight, just to royally fu ck Encore pilots. Now the best way for people from Encore to get to WestJet is to go through Swoop, which means any leverage the union had in improving wages there through empty seats is now gone. Everyone who argued and voted against the One List furthered the decline of pilot WAWCON in Canada due to a short-sighted grudge against Encore. Thanks altiplano! You know what's best for everyone!
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altiplano
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by altiplano »

Are you sure you're a pilot? Because you must be smoking some good shit if you think my opinion changed a thing on that.

I hold no grudge, (although it's apparent you must certainly do) and my opinion was based on an objective stand point, and certainly wasn't against your list, it was not to give anything away to a corporation for free. Particularly something like a seniority list without some sort of protection. The corporation certainly isn't giving anything away either.

A couple years lost so you can step on the OTS guy and improve your lot is less important than protecting the list and the people on it, whether OTS or flow.

Look now, with a hedge fund chop shop buying you up and eventually who knows? there is certainly a probably you will all be spun off in different directions... seems it was the right move for the pilots at Westjet to protect their list and their future interests against unknown factors. I believe had that list vote gone through, you probably would be seeing some regret at your mainline the day after the ONEX purchase, and a new vote being drawn up to overturn the first one.

Swoop pay is so low because Wj didn't get ALPA 10 years ago, didn't get their flying scoped, before it was even a glimmer in Clive's eye. Your list or you going there or not going there makes no difference... isn't that the same seniority list you're trying to get on anyway? That you get to flow to still?

BOTL is industry standard for regional flow... so you're not any worse off than any other regional pilot in this business, in fact with your guaranteed flow and pay top up you're better off than most...

I'd try to re-channel your anger into something else... it's not good for keeping your medical for a long career.
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SPR
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by SPR »

Hey dumbass, the point is that the company was under huge pressure with staffing issues at Swoop, to the point that they were apparently wet-leasing aircraft to cover for the lack of pilots, and you and everyone opposed to the One List just drove a bunch of Encore pilots into their arms. Right when the opportunity to make improvements was coming about, you took away any leverage ALPA had to do anything for Swoop. Pilots might finally have been able to stem the bleeding and do something that would benefit all of us, all across the industry, and you advocated against the One List because you can't see the forest for the trees.
As for the list itself, the whole point of it was to have an unprecedented system that would draw pilots to Encore because of seniority at WestJet, so it was good that it wasn't like any other regional set-up. The company was able to keep costs low, but still attract employees, so having industry-standard BOTL flow means that Encore is going to shrivel up and die due to perpetual staffing issues. Everyone who's eligible will jump to Swoop as soon as possible to bypass the wait for flow, and in the meantime we're making less than Jazz captains who only have to wait two years to get to AC where they'll upgrade sooner, so yeah, I am "any worse off than any other regional pilot". The only benefit to being at Encore was getting seniority at WestJet, and with that gone I might as well go to Jazz and start all over again. Even if I have to make FO wages for a while, it'll still be quicker than waiting for flow at WestJet. Oh, yeah, this is really beneficial for pilots as a whole!
Oh, what's that? You think we can use it as a bargaining chip to get more money from management? Oh, good! We can get an extra dollar an hour! We've lost years of seniority to apply to upgrades at WestJet, which means we're going to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars and several weeks of vacation over our careers. How did we not see it before?! The great and glorious master altiplano has shown us the light! Thank you soooo much for bathing us in your wisdom! We'll all be 100x better off now!! Call off the federal election, because we've found our monarch, the Glorious Leader and Economic Genius altiplano!!!
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altiplano
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by altiplano »

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Ex DC10 Driver
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by Ex DC10 Driver »

So the latest Swoop bid for 14 Captain and 10 F/O positions has 9 Encore pilots bidding....not exactly a mass exodus over to Swoop now that the one list was voted down.
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laserstrike
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by laserstrike »

Probably because the rest are waiting for a reply from AC or Jazz.
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wallypilot
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by wallypilot »

92k for first year capt? Who the hell is taking these positions? You just have to shake your head. Anyone that takes such a position is personally partially responsible for the downfall of this industry.
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North Shore
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by North Shore »

Probably closer to $45k, wp....6 months, or 500 hours, and then it’s off to China for big bucks..
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Nomoreexpat
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by Nomoreexpat »

soooo..

I have a few question for someone who is a New Captain at Swoop.


I have a friend who is currently doing Line indoc and he told me with Ontario Tax he brings home 2758.00 twice a month.. that is after Tax without perdiem or Overtime.

is That salary enough to pay for all your Bill's, possibly sustain a family and enjoy a holiday during the year.

my other question is, why are these Captain salaries soo Low.. and why do you accept them.

I'm asking only on a fact finding mission and trying to understand the Market and the Mentality of Canadian Aviation.

Thanks in Advance
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FOD_Vacuum
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by FOD_Vacuum »

Nomoreexpat wrote: Sun Aug 18, 2019 1:47 pm soooo..

I have a few question for someone who is a New Captain at Swoop.


I have a friend who is currently doing Line indoc and he told me with Ontario Tax he brings home 2758.00 twice a month.. that is after Tax without perdiem or Overtime.

is That salary enough to pay for all your Bill's, possibly sustain a family and enjoy a holiday during the year.

my other question is, why are these Captain salaries soo Low.. and why do you accept them.

I'm asking only on a fact finding mission and trying to understand the Market and the Mentality of Canadian Aviation.

Thanks in Advance
Let me try explain the Canadian Aviation mentality. A Canadian who walks in front of you at the grocery store while you look at which Aunt Jemima syrup you want to buy will simply say "sorry" for being a split second inconvenience to your view. Canadians will not strike or have a huge uproar, because, well that is very "un-Canadian" like. God forbid you offend any snowflakes here in Canada... I was offered the idea a 705 captain job that I turned down simply because I did not think it was paid well enough and that was honestly my answer to the CP. The last potential strike I can recall was the other year when a few Westjet pilots went picketing outside the WJ headquarters in order to get a fair contract. In my opinion, this got more media attention the actual purpose of the picketing for their contract..

That salary you mention reflects a roughly 90k a year salary which is very low compared to any other Boeing captain in the world. Its an insultingly low figure. I made more than that flying a clapped out King Air back in the day. To answer your question, I will assume your friend lives in Hamilton. The average rent is around $1350 or $1500 for a two bedroom. A normal financial rule of thumb is to not spend more than 30% on cost of living. So this is "doable" depending in what kind of accommodation you want to live in.

But, lets run some very rough numbers and look at an average cost of a house in Hamilton as per google. $584k so lets say the minimum of a first home buyers down payment of $30k (5%). The rest of the mortage over 25 year period (554k) would run you aprox. $1850 mortage payment a month. add on utilities, property tax etc you are looking at around $2300 a month of your after tax income required to pay your living cost. As mentioned, your costs should run you no more than 30% of your income, which means you should not spend more than about $1700 on your costs. This means you are spending about $600 a month more on your living costs with that income compared to what you should be if you want to be financially smart. So to answer your question, no it is not viable and it would be difficult to pay for bills with a Swoop capt salary. Don't forget, Hamilton is one of the more affordable areas in the country.

The pilots that take these positions and accept them are either younger individuals who have the shiny jet syndrome and still live with roommates, or pilots from overseas wanting to move back to Canada but couldn't justify an FO wage to support their family, or those who want jet PIC experience in order to go overseas and get paid what we should be in that position. The problem is that there is not a lot of competition and enough pressure in the Canadian industry to warrant a hike in wage to be at the same level as other similar positions in the world. I hope that changes sooner than later-fingers crossed.
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co-joe
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by co-joe »

The problem is we have a duopoly in control of our wages. There are only 2, 705 players to work for, and they don't like us.
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ehv8oar
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by ehv8oar »

Maybe things will change if the US starts recruiting Canadian Pilots, then AC and WJ will have to increase the salaries.
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by RVR6000 »

ehv8oar wrote: Sat Aug 24, 2019 5:46 am Maybe things will change if the US starts recruiting Canadian Pilots, then AC and WJ will have to increase the salaries.
AC already has a pretty decent salary on the 737, roughly $230k a year. Problem is those willing to do it for $110k a year.

Knock on AC contract as you wish, it’s still far superior to anything else in this country. The flat salary doesn’t last indefinitely, those soon to be 6-8 months captain will attest to it.
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by JohnnyHotRocks »

The US unions will never allow Canadian scabs to lower their salaries and rightfully so.
Please stop defending ACs disgraceful payscale.
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Hangry
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by Hangry »

JohnnyHotRocks wrote: Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:58 am The US unions will never allow Canadian scabs to lower their salaries and rightfully so.
Please stop defending ACs disgraceful payscale.
Who do you work for and how much do you make?
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jt8d
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Re: Swoop pay

Post by jt8d »

230K... how many years into the left seat is that... just curious? PoopAir is shit... no doubt about. Disgraceful to accept such a low captain salary... garbage... the execs there can suck my Dink
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