Originally Posted by
newKnow
That's what I kind of figured. (I was actually just waiting for Buzz to jump on the idea.) Any discussion of extra pay for the NYC base would eventually become a discussion for extra pay for LAX pilots, too.
Then you could also bring up cost of living expenses. At Northwest, when we had a HNL base, I believe the pilots got extra pay because of the high cost of living there. What if we open up HNL again?
So, the discussion could go on and on for a long time. I think where we will wind up is dealing with what we have. But, if we can get to a point where we make enough money, paying for the extra expenses in these cities won't be such a big deal.
I would agree with what you are saying. Regardless of what people think the pot of money to pay pilots is somewhat finite. We could spend money on a stipend but the end results is less somewhere else in the contract.
If we are going to have a special interest carve out in the next contract so to speak here is where I think the money should go.
We should change the FO payscales so they go out to 15 years. The percentage of Captains pay should go up to 75 percent at the 15 year point. This would reflect the new realities of the industry and Delta and slower then the historical norm in career advancement. It also gives the company some incentive to grow the company. If they can keep all copilots under 12 years they reduce their crew costs.