Originally Posted by
Kprc1
Here's a few questions.
1)How do you get the comapnies to increase FO pay? Especially first year pay.
2)Do you expect the new pilots to sit on the sidelines waiting for the increase?
3)Will senior CA's make concessions and give away a little from the top to balance out the bottom?
4)how do you stop this "Race to the bottom"?
My opinion is this; In all professions there is a starting point.
A mason, electrician, plumber and a carpenter started their profession as a "gopher" or day laborer to learn their trade.
Many corporate execs and individuals in business had to do an unpaid internship.
A good restaurant GM has worked his way up from even a dishwasher position.
I believe that this is just a "right of passage" as a first year FO. Would I like more money? Hell yes! Do I think it's fair to sign a 1 year or longer training contract at those wages? Hell NO! For now I'll just grind it out and wait my turn for the upgrade.
First, a regional isn't a "starting point." It's typically the 3rd step for most people. Your analogy would be more appropriate if you looked at flight instructing or aerial survey as washing dishes and waiting tables. A first officer at an airline is an assistant manager of his airplane full of 70-80 people. The next step is manager.
If you want to believe first year pay is a "right of passage," you need to wake up to the realities of this industry. There are literally thousands of pilots who've had to do first year pay twice or even three times. When Comair folded, there were former 20 year CRJ-900 Captains flying the same aircraft, literally, for "intern" wages.
What if you never upgrade? What if you wake up one day and your company has started to downsize. It's 10 years later and you're still making less than 40k a year. It is easier to accept low wages when the future of high wages look so close and promising. Point being, there may be people reading this right now who will never see the left seat and your idea of intern wages hurts them most.