Originally Posted by
wrxpilot
Part of our compensation is non-revving. As regional employees, our monetary compensation quite frankly sucks, but it is supposedly made up slightly by our ability to non-rev on partner carriers. Taking away that benefit (or increasing the costs associated with it) effectively decreases our compensation. In other words, it is a paycut if this memo is true.
The partner carriers already get a screaming deal on the backs of poorly compensated regional airline employees. Now United want to essentially create a big paycut to all of us. As a pilot, it really doesn't affect me since I can jumpseat. But it will very negatively affect non-flight crew regional employees, which will of course make it even harder to draw competent talent to already struggling regional carriers.
If non-reving is not specifically defined as part of your compensation then it is not part of your compensation. It is a 'benefit' of working in the industry but not part of your pay unless it is specifically addressed in your contract.
I have learned long ago that anything that is not black and white in the contract is subject to interpretation and we (employees) lose in cases of interpretation. Our employment is strictly business and should be seen as that and only that.
Read your contract. If non-reving is not addressed as part of your pay/compensation then you're wrong. I'm not saying I'm not sympathetic. But the companies love getting employees to pay for their work from training (buying type ratings, pay to work, training bonds, etc.) to commuting costs to uniforms to getting employees to store company documents on personal electronic devices like iPads, to requiring us to make phone calls on personal phones, etc. It goes on and on and as long as the contracts don't address something, the advantage goes to the company and their team of lawyers that look for gray areas and non-rev is one of those areas. Eventually it will have a backlash as fewer and fewer people get into the business. But I would expect the erosion of reasons to be in this industry to continue.
We may think it's part of our pay because historically it's been a perk of working in aviation. But if it's not specifically defined, then it's not part of our compensation. It's just business. No more, no less.