[QUOTE=sailingfun;1142379]Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it almost impossible to make a illegitimate comparison of a 2 pilot operation to a 2, 3, and 4 pilot operation using the DOT reported numbers?

Looking at the MIT website, when looking at "Pilot Cost" they put the word "Unadjusted" in the title for this very reason. For this reason it is also very hard to compare say Delta and United because you don't know the make up of their 2, 3, or 4 person crews without doing a lot more research.

I will also submit that no two airlines uses the same underlying data to come up with there numbers because there is no requirement by the DOT to do so. For instance the DOT ask for an item like "pilot salary" but does not say which pilots must be counted. So airline A might add Line Pilots and Management pilots but exclude pilots on long term sick leave while another airline might include every pilot on the seniority list. This is just an example but when you look at all the item that go into the DOT reported number you get some wide variance.

Also, to be bluntly honest, any dumb pilot can go find and look at DOT numbers or the compiled numbers of someone like the MIT Project but I expect my union to be putting in a lot more effort and doing a lot more research into what the real data is when looking at other airlines.

As Bar just stated Delta is in a displacement mode which is one of the reasons Delta's pilot cost are high right now. I am on my 5th airplane training cycle in under 5 years. Depending on the amount of downward movement on the March bid I could be going to my 6th.

Airlines, and businesses in general, have a competitive reason for not letting others know their true cost and if we are relying on the numbers that 10 different airlines are coming up with and reporting we are shooting ourselves in the foot.