Originally Posted by
Justdoinmyjob
Dog,
You miss the point that this would create a de facto B scale at the bottom of the list. Some other things to think about: how do you reconcile 401K contribution %? Sick time and vacation accrual, scheduling rules? All these have a cost associated with them to the company. If they have a seniority number, then they should be operating under the same contract, yes? By paying a regional pilot what a mainline pilot gets would negate any operating cost premium the regional pilot generates.
All valid points. I don't think it would be an effortless move but if the costs justified it perhaps all the things you mentioned would be looked at.
Let me try and address some of these elements.
First- are there any current pay rates for the crj200/emb145 or crj 700/900 emb 170 in the majors?
If not they would not have to pay these pilots what they are paying the mainline pilots.
In an ideal world maybe this pay rate could be the middle of the road between the majors lowest paying aircraft and current regional pay. If the company was insistent on keeping the cost as low as possible they could leave the rates where they are (but risk lower new hire appeal). Even with current pay- I am sure plenty of applicants would take the low rj pay if it meant securing a mainline seniority number (Not saying this is positive necessarily).
The new pilots could be bound by the same contract and scheduling rules- these are interesting and challenging topics that require some creative thinking, but at least we are talking about them now...