Originally Posted by Flys135s

In my opinion, ALPA is not on the side of the regional pilots. They fight for the mainlines. That's where the money comes from. Think about it. If your pay goes up (regional pilots in general), where do you think the money will come from? Regionals can't pay more because they will lose the contract. In fact, they are in a race to the bottom to underbid each other. Their pilots go along with it in fear of losing their jobs to the next guy. If the mainlines don't raise ticket prices then the mainline pilots will take the hit - equally undesirable . This is where the unions should step in and fight with one voice across the entire industry. But, what do we hear?..... Crickets!

The only way regional pilots will earn a livable wage is to get union representation specific to the regional airline industry. Unfortunately, the way management and mainline unions have allowed things to progress, regional pilot pay is in direct conflict to mainline pilot pay. Regional pilots must speak with a single voice across the entire regional industry in order to lift up the entire profession. I.e. what a union is supposed to do, and what ALPA hasn't done.

Hopefully this will drive more pilot jobs to the mainline and at the same time allow regional pilots to make a livable wage. My hope would also be that ALPA would continue to hold the line for mainline pilots pay at the same time with the end result of higher ticket prices to the customers. In my humble opinion this is the only way to put the cat back in the bag when it comes to Scope issues. Some may disagree, but I think the road we are headed down towards a European style of pilot apprenticeship would be less desirable.