Originally Posted by
Will
My logic I think is pretty simple. A pilot hired at age 30 will top out at age 42, giving them 23 years at the top of the pay scale. Hire a 45 year old pilot, that pilot only rides the top of the pay scale for 8 years. A much cheaper employee to employ for the length of there career. Not only in pay, but vacation, sick time, etc. I agree Delta does not have to look for a replacement pilot for 35 years compared to 23. But at this current time replacement pilots are not hard to find. Longevity is what makes a pilot group expensive. If Delta hires all guys in there 30's pay roll is going to be expensive for a long time.
Will, I still don't think you are getting it. All Captains at Delta have been at Delta for 12 years so they are all top of the pay scale for any given equipment. A percentage of the pilot group will always fill the top paying seats whether they are 35 years old or 60 years old. In theory Delta would actually save money if a young guy got to his top airplane and camped there for many years as opposed to costing the company multiple training events as goes retire and new guys switch seats.