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Old 03-02-2012, 07:30 AM
  #91189  
tsquare
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Originally Posted by Carl Spackler
That option is available to them right now. Why don't they do that? Because it would VASTLY increase their costs. It's cheaper for us to fly one 747-400 than the 3 or more narrow bodies it would take to fly the same passengers and cargo. Passengers would love it though, because all the surveys show that they prefer more frequency. The airline cannot give that to them though because of the large increase in costs.



Pay banding could well exacerbate this point. With pay banding, you actually reduce the CASM of wide body aircraft relative to their narrow body counterparts. If you reduce the relative CASM of wide bodies, you incentivize management to buy more of them. More wide bodies mean less need for pilots. That's one of the main reasons ALPA fought hard for this productivity pay when the 707 was introduced decades ago.

Carl
Again, you are assuming that they would replace something like a bunch of -88s with a 747. And you even contradict yourself by saying that management could do that, but passengers want more frequency. They will book away if we only have one flight/day and another carrier has 5 or 6.. so that productivity is lost.. doesn't make business sense to upgauge for that reason.

Second paragraph. If management buys more widebodies simply because of our payrates, then we have no argument that our pay does little to affect the bottom line of the business more than we or management will acknowledge. (I am basing this on the fact that I have read many many many times that "we could work for free and it wouldn't save the company", blah blah blah) And if they buy more widebodies because our payrates are lower, then that's a good thing, because they will STILL be paid at the top of the food chain... I say, bring 'em on. But you are still holding onto the old way of thinking... The 707 was a replacement for DC-6s and other prop driven airplanes.. Hardly a germane argument to this discussion.
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