Originally Posted by
Larry in TN
kfahmi works for a non-union airline. ALPA was not involved in creating the compensation system under which he works.
The fact that all non union scheduled airlines utilize the seniority system to hire pilots pretty well shows that it's a system that is in the best interests of management and not the union pilots. The problem with it at the regional level is the bottom end is drying up and the seniority model is designed to attract people at the bottom end while ignoring a potentially large pool of available pilots who are either sitting on the sidelines or working elsewhere but looking to make a lateral move.
Currently the only options an experienced regional pilot has for a lateral job move are Corporate, Asia or a non flying job.
(BTW it's generally not cool to hand out personal info about other members here if you happen to know them)
Pilot pay by the hour is analogous to being paid by the piece. An airline's product is an available-seat-mile (ASM). When an ASM is sold it becomes a revenue-seat-mile (RSM). The number of block hours a pilot flies is roughly equivalent to the number of ASMs he produces. If he flies a larger or faster airplane he produces more ASMs per hour so his hourly rate will generally be higher.
It's not a perfectly accurate relationship but it's close enough for both management and labor.
Except that it doesn't work that way anymore. Ticket prices don't follow that model either.
A 50 seat jet can actually be more efficient than a 150 seat jet on shorter routes, especially when loads are not going to fill that 150 seat jet. Pilots are a fixed cost but it doesn't mean that pilots need to be paid in proportion to the seats to make the jet profitable.