Originally Posted by
Wasatch Phantom
Alfa,
You take other forum members to task for lack of research. Better look in the mirror buddy...
Here's the thing. I just spent maybe 10 minutes looking only at Captain pay for 76 seat jets. That's the CRJ-900 and E-190.
You claim that industry average 76 seat Captain pay is $64.60 per hour.
I want to see your "research".
I don't believe there are any CRJ-900 Captains with one or two years of longevity at any what I'll call "Respectable Regionals".
SkyWest: Year 2 (not likely): $66/hour Year 20: $112/hour
ASA: Year 2 (not likely): $65/hour Year 18: $107/hour
Jet Blue: Year 2 (not likely): $126/hour Year 12: $143/hour
Pinnacle/Mesaba: Year 2 (not likely): $67/hour Year 20: $106/hour
Mesa: Year 2 (not likely): $63/hour Year 20: $104/hour
Quick averages shows year two Captain pay at $77.40 and top scale at $114.40.
While you and I differ on the merits of the DALPA/DPA debate, I certainly hope that ALPA's "best and brightest" E&FA specialists are more accurate than your numbers or we are doomed.
We have no E-190's operated at any DCI carrier and our contract would not allow that to happen. Putting that rate into the equation is not a valid comparison. The question was asked specifically about operating DCI jets at mainline and my answer was correct. For the record my comparison used Comair, Skywest, ASA, Compass, and Pinnacle (new combined contract). I didn't use Republic/Chautauqua because I had bad data at the time (it was too low), but if you add them in there is no appreciable difference.
Secondly, I did not make any mention of comparing seat counts, revenue available, or any of these other metrics because that is not the question that was asked. If you want to do that analysis then you are going to a whole other range of analysis and that is one that would take months.
As I said in my original post, it is impossible to even lay out simple facts without it devolving into some assumptions about what direction the pilot group should take. The facts are that without changes to our contract (concessions) the crew costs of operating a CRJ-900 at mainline are much higher than at DCI. Add in your idea of what pay/benefits increases are coming in this contract and the comparison just gets more difficult.
Now for additional head work, look at the an airline that is hiring 600-700 pilots per year. Pick a fleet size of CRJ-900's, your pick, and count up how many pilots are there assuming a crew complement of 4.5 crews per jet. Then figure out the career progression of a new hire as he has the choices of fleet and seat that exist at Delta today. What is the chance that a 12 year pilot would choose a CRJ Captain job over narrow body captain or even A-330/747/777/767-400 F/O? Now just start backing up that career path, not at our current airline, but at the airline that is cycling through 600-700 pilots per year. A pilot will be halfway up the seniority list at 10 years, assuming Delta doesn't grow.
The pilot group can decide which way they go, I make no assertion on what that direction should be. If you want to have a discussion based on facts then at least get the facts right. The first assertion was that we haven't done analysis, it was stated as fact. When the analysis is shown, then now we are even worse because the facts don't match your preconceived notions. Seriously, it's hard to please you guys.