Originally Posted by
NineGturn
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.
It may be a terrible system but it's the best one anyone's been able to come up with so far. Seniority protects Captain's authority as management can't use a pilot's willingness to cut corners as a gauge for promotion. With seniority a Captain can stand up and say no to an operation that he doesn't believe is safe without fear of it affecting his career advancement. See "Flying The Line" for the story of how this developed.
(BTW it's generally not cool to hand out personal info about other members here if you happen to know them)
He has posted multiple messages on multiple forums detailing his experience with interviewing and training with this airline including the airline name. I haven't said anything that he hasn't already posted.
Except that it doesn't work that way anymore.
ASMs is how an airline tracks its production. Cost per ASM (CASM) is how airlines track their per-unit and labor costs. RSMs is how an airline tracks its revenue. Read an airline's annual report.
The airline, like any business, wants compensation to be proportional to production. Crewmember pay per flight hour is reasonably proportional to production so it works for management. Management also wants the pay system to provide incentive for the existing employees to voluntarily produce more as that allows them to operate with fewer crewmembers which lowers overall labor cost. The current system provides that incentive.
The crewmembers want to work efficiently while at work so that they can put in a full month in as few days away from home as possible. Duty and Trip rigs provide incentives for the company to produce schedules that are as efficient as the flight schedule and duty/rest rules allow.
The problem here is that Skywest's duty rig apparently only applies to trip construction and not the actual time on duty. That accomplishes the goal of providing the incentive to produce efficient trips. The problem comes in when there are delays and cancellations which extend the duty day.
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.
CASM is always significantly higher in a small jet than in the larger mainline jets. Three or four times higher.
The smaller jets are used to keep the yield high on routes which can't support higher yields with higher capacities. If the airplane used is too big the airline has to offer too many seats at too low a price driving down the yield. With the smaller jet you eliminate most, if not all, of the cheapest fares and dramatically reduce the number of cheaper fares that are offered. The result is a much higher yield for the flight which overcomes the aircraft's high CASM.
It is very common in many industries to find that the more productive employees are paid higher than the less productive employees. A pilot who flies a larger airplane is producing more ASMs per hour of flight than one who flies a smaller airplane. The airline can sell those ASMs to produce more RSMs which means more revenue.
Bottom line is that the smallest airplanes don't produce enough product, which leads to not enough revenue, to support significantly higher pay for the crew. The larger airplanes produce more product and revenue which allows the higher pay which had been negotiated over the decades.