Originally Posted by
iaflyer
I think in this instance ALPA was thinking like a business. Perhaps airline management or a consultant said that overall, ALPA will get more dues $$$ and more political power by expanding the regionals.
ie - rather than say (completely made up numbers) 20,000 well paid pilots, 40,000 pilots who are paid moderate wages will result in more dues $$$ and more power for ALPA.
You are doing bad math:
DAL 717 CA: $184
DAL 717 FO: $112
AVG RJ CA: $75
AVG RJ FO: $38
mainline CA payrate is 2.45x more* than RJ
mainline FO payrate is 2.94x more* than RJ
*not factoring in improved work rules, benefits that mean more pilots getting paid at the higher rates
If it was about "more dues" only, it would STILL be beneficial to have mainline jobs instead of RJ jobs.