Originally Posted by
deltajuliet
I resent paying ALPA money since their priority is and always has been mainline. For mainline pilots to get the things they do, regional pilots have to get shoved down a little more.
It is what it is. The regional model only benefits the regional pilots insofar as it's a pathway to get to the majors. Sure it'd be nice to improve all of our contracts, but improvements are negligible at best and the priority should be getting to a major, not sitting right seat at a regional for 9 years for a slightly less bad contract. Then we too can make $48,000 a month while living in a crashpad (?).
The fact is a lot of regional pilots never make it to a major. Contract improvements need to be made at the regional level so that when someone gets stuck at a regional (as the majority of pilots will) they can live a comfortable life. This won't happen until the pilot shortage really manifests, and even then I don't see regional pilots having the unity to accomplish that goal. The hope of a chance to make it to a major, no matter how small, is enough for a lot of guys to accept low pay and qol.