Originally Posted by slowplay

Then there's the math problem that stems from your creation in bankruptcy. The Captain on your flight made a max of $72 per hour. The FO made $37/hr. A Delta MD-88 Captain would make $168/hr, and his FO would make $112/hr. Those pay and longevity disparities go through all work groups. You were also flying a 76 seat jet. The MD-88 holds 142/150, the A-319 pays more on 124 seats, so it's not likely the routes are currently economically operable with a larger aircraft in the timeslots you flew.

Even if you brought that 76 seat jet to mainline the cost disparities continue. A Delta CRJ-900 Captain would receive $116/hr and his FO would get $67/hr. On top of those hourly rates comes 14% DC, and the difference has to be applied to those on reserve as well. I don't know your rigs, but that trip would pay 21 hours on mainline. That's over $1900 difference in direct wages just for pilots on that 4 day trip, and that grossly understates the real labor number.

Compass created a labor arbitrage. Management had the bankruptcy hammer to make it happen. That type of arbitrage is what is killing Comair and is about to hurt SKYW/ASA/Expressjet as they lose 12 airplanes to Gojets. It's all in the longevity. In your segment the "younger" pilot groups are winning.