Originally Posted by
slowplay
I disagree. Wasatch wrote
"Respectable Regionals"?
So the average Compass Captain (42 jets) has 4 years tenure. He didn't include them. And Compass gets a longevity reset whenever the flow starts, keeping downward pressure on wages.
The last 12 "large" RJ's placed by Delta went to Gojets...those are year 2 Captains and the airframes came from SkyWest.
Those two airlines 54 of the 255 large RJ's currently operating in the Delta fleet.
He also didn't mention Republic and their $37/hr FO rate. They fly 30 large RJ's for DCI. That's 1/3 of the current DCI large RJ fleet he didn't include.
How do you think the PCL rates will hold up under 1113, especially as 16 of their CRJ-900 aircraft flying for Delta are being rejected? They still will have 41 -900's flying if their reorganization is successful at whatever new payrate they negotiate.
How is Comair's concessionary bargaining going for their 28 large RJ's?
Alfa's right, it is a complex problem. Scambo's point that it's not just rates is correct too. Using Scambo's way results in a pilot cost disparity of over 60% when compared to either aircraft block hours or pilot cost per pilot block hour. And that's just pilots. Not even including the rest of labor, the additional inefficiency of a new mainline fleet type and all the start-up and sustainment costs of operating a new fleet makes the difference gets even greater.
Oh, and if all those DCI contracts guaranteed profits, why is PCL bankrupt, SKYW breaking even, and wholly owned Comair collapsing?
What you state above is the sickness in our industry. What you and ALPA fail to see right under your nose is that ALPA is the cause of it and is making it all possible. By actively supporting outsourcing at mainline we are destroying the industry from the bottom up. ALPA leadership has bought into managements idea that you cannot afford to fly small jets at mainline rates and that by outsourcing more and larger jets to many cheaper carriers will allow price control which will allow more profits which will allow higher pay to mainline pilots.
The outsourcing portion has worked as advertised. By having multiple carriers Delta management has successfully moved flying from carrier to carrier as soon as one of these carriers cost have increased at all giving flying to not only non-ALPA carriers but also to groups that have been established to destroy ALPA carriers. The result is carriers with low longevity and established carriers in bankruptcy or large reductions. The companies that have gone bankrupt haven't gone bankrupt because they paid there pilots some outrageous dollar amount but because there longevity started to increase.
DALPA has not once publicly denounced the destroying of other ALPA jobs in favor of new startup or alter ego airlines because they believe that it is good for Delta pilots and that mainline pay rates can be increased because of the downward pressure on wages at DCI due to the whipsaw. The problem I see is that there no way to know if we are getting any of that money other that a little profit sharing but I also argue that we are creating a downward pressure on our own pay rates. When negotiations get down to pay rates any management team worth anything will have to point out the difference in pay between the 76 seat four year avg longevity pay rates and compare them to the smallest mainline equipment and say that it's just not reasonable to have a “significant” raise unless more outsourcing is allowed. This process then effects all other higher paying aircraft as well. I can guarantee that company negotiators and analyst are looking at the pilot cost of not just our peer airlines but also those airlines we are outsourcing to.
My believe is that ALPA's support for outsourcing to the lowest cost provider will continue to destroy the profession and place a downward press on mainline wages. DALPA has an opportunity now to stop or significantly reduce outsourcing and stop the downward pressure that the whipsawing and perpetual bankruptcy of regional carriers will continue to cause.