Originally Posted by
Rahlifer
I'm not taking a swipe at the skill sets or responsibilities of regional pilots. We're very similar to mainline pilots in some ways, but the heart of the issue is we are still contract labor. We're subject to replacement at anytime for any reason. Just look at the ruthless undercutting among regionals over the last decade and the current poaching of pilots among companies. The regionals have always been a means to an end, the coveted mainline job. Not everyone will make, but to cry foul and pout about it being unfair is just non sense.
It sounds from your last two posts that you believe we don't deserve anything more because we are contracted labor. Just because we are contracted labor doesn't mean we should accept working for less than we are worth as status quo because ALPA and the majors tell us it's a means to an end. For many, it is the end. FYI contracted labor doesn't always mean cheaper waged labor. There are contractors who are paid more than full time employees in some lines of work.
This almost unpaid "internship" doing the exact same thing as the majors (4 legs of 76 passengers in a 5 hour day is 300 pax...so can't say we fly fewer passengers and therefore deserve a much smaller paycheck) isn't always a temporary job. But ALPA/mainline will tell you it is. Your attitude is why we make horrible wages. If enough pilots held the line, we could make some changes. But WE let the whipsaw continue so we can get those new shiny jets. And I don't see that changing unfortunately, even when pilot supply/demand numbers are in our favor. If every single underpaid regional pilot quit (not talking strike, but quitting altogether) until things got better, it would be about less than a day before pay changed.