Originally Posted by
MALB
For that matter, does 1000 hours in a harrier qualify you as an experienced airline pilot?
The argument goes both ways. Airline pilots are not paid to fly as much as a CFI is. Airline pilots are paid to hand fly until the autopilot kicks in, from that point they are paid to be there and know what to do if something goes wrong.
I wouldn't argue with these points, but it doesn't change mine. I think airline pilots should definitely have a solid background of hand flying skills whether in a single engine prop or a harrier. In fact I think they should have far more than 1500 hours to get a solid background of flying skills before settling in to the routine of airline automation. But they still are going to face a significant learning curve their fist year in a jet transport (unless they came from jet transports such as corporate).
But the reality is most pilots wont have that much experience before settling in to an airline job.
In reality, the scale should be not straight up, it should start at say $30/hr and then around year 7-8 level off until year 10 or so and then begin to increase again. This promotes transitioning to the majors around year 7 or 8, rewards high-time, high-seniority captains that stick around and also provides a boost to new guys so that they are not living twenty five to a two bedroom apartment.
The fallacy of this is that you are expecting pay should be based on some entitled amount set by what you think is fair rather than free market.
You are also assuming that the career transition from regional to major is the norm. Just because something is a certain way doesn't mean it's the best way or the only possible way for things to work. The only reason we have regional airlines at all is because of the seniority system. Without the power it gives airlines to control wages the industry wouldn't exist in its present form. A regional jet wouldn't be some low end career stepping stone. It would instead be just another jet airliner albeit slightly smaller than a A319 which is also slightly smaller than a A321 and so on.
In fact there wouldn't be that many regional airliners built without this system of controlled pay scales in place to take advantage.