Originally Posted by
tom11011
Alpa and senior pilots decide the payscale for the newest pilot employees. The only people who care about junior pilots are junior pilots.
If that's what makes you feel better, by all means keep repeating it. You couldn't be more wrong though.
You're missing the disconnect. You get what you negotiate, and in the Fee for Departure arena the margins are razor thin. Because regionals are paid a set rate for the departure, what leverage are pilots negotiating against? The traditional GWxspeedxseats formula that provided a measure of revenue production (and pilot pay was based on taking a cut of that) doesn't exist. That makes apples to apples comparisons tough between regional and major airlines, but not impossible.
That's certainly nothing you don't already know, but I'd be interested to hear what value you present to the company at the bargaining table.
It used to be if pilots didn't like something, the answer was "next". But now, the available manpower being what it is in the industry, pilots have the ability to be shrewd at the bargaining table. To entertain the notion of pay cuts is crazy. There will be jobs for you in this industry based on retirements alone, and if a company can't afford to pay a living waged, then maybe the MEC's need to cull the heard and demand full pay to the past day.