Originally Posted by
Speedbird2263
Or corporate or legacy or air ambulance...the list goes on, why stop at the regional pilot. The psychology of it all makes one wonder, I believe the very stigma associated with being a regional pilot in the US helps to suppress wages. You, however crudely proved my point though, that access to the profession is too easy in more ways than one, therefore the supply and demand curve is weighted heavily towards the company's favour. I may be wrong, however that's just my layman observation.
-2263
Regional FOs make what they make because the majors have set up a system where pilot "costs" have to be at a certain point or the regional can't make money. Regional margins are very tight and there are a dozen companies waiting to take the flying if a company decides they need more money.
There is a pool of money available for pilots which is more or less static (there is a little room for negotiation) and what is negotiated is how to divvy it up. I'm not sure who decided what the captain/FO split should be but it is definitely slanted in favor of captains at the regional level.
For the total compensation package to increase in a meaningful way at contractor companies the majors will have to decide they want to pay regional pilots more. In my opinion the dearth of qualified regional candidates will eventually force compensation higher at the lower end of the industry. That could mean higher regional wages or a transfer of flying to mainline.