Originally Posted by
CRM114
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.
Pilots eat their own. That's why we have regional airlines in the first place. This job shouldn't even exist. It exists because a bunch of senior pilots sat around the negotiating table one day and told management "We need the most senior pilots to earn $300,000 per year". Management said "ok we'll do that, but then we need the most junior pilots to earn $20,000 per year". The senior pilots at the table paused for a moment. About 30 seconds went by and one of the pilots said "We can live with that". All the other pilots at the table nodded their head in agreement.