Originally Posted by
BoilerUP
A captain with shiny jet syndrome?
I watch a 175 taxi by in PHL or DCA and say "Man, those sure are nice airplanes. They're comfortable to deadhead in...but I make more flying my stretched bizjet than they make flying that thing with 36 more seats."
That takes away the sting of being a lowly RJ driver...
The following airlines pay less than Republic on the E175 as Captain:
American Eagle CRJ 700
ASA CRJ 700
ComAir CRJ 700
ExpressJet E 145
Mesa CRJ 900
SkyWest CRJ 900
Air Wisconsin CRJ 200
GoJet CRJ 700
Mesaba CRJ 900
Pinnacle CRJ 200
PSA CRJ 700
TSA E 145
The following are benchmark rates for the 175 under the current CBA:
CA yr1 63/hr
CA yr5 76/hr
CA yr10 88/hr
CA yr15 103/hr
While I agree that these rates should increase, along with every other regional airline pay scale, I think you can also take the time to back your statement up with an intelligent line of reasoning. If you are comparing FO rates, then surely you can add it all up and see any money lost in your short time at Republic as a FO is quickly recovered.
You can complain all you like about our pay, but in truth our wages on the 175 are at or above industry standard. Not to mention these rates were negotiated post- 9/11 by a small pilot group who was just adding jets to the fleet. There is nothing bottom-feeder about our pay... even our 50 seat rates are within 2-3 dollars per hour of most every other 50 seat rate. Add in no junior manning and a successful rebuttal of an alter-ego start-up, and you find less reason for shame. Then, add in the fact that with industry-standard pay our company has been able to profit and grow without concessions, and with a union on property. Most other carriers have been stagnant or slipping slowly backwards. Our pay has been on par with what everyone else has been making, and has still permitted our company to grow and expand and monopolize a niche of the regional industry, while protecting our quality of life with decent workrules, untouchable days off, and one of the highest number of guaranteed days off for lineholders and reservists among all the regionals.
Think on that while you gloat in your CRJ.
I am not an elitist, and I could care less about how shiny my airplane is. I am at my fourth airline, been part of a furlough, a liquidation, a non-union carrier, and a merger. I have flown props and jets. None of that matters. A job is a job, and it all comes down to whether or not you can pay your bills and sleep comfortably at night. Good for you that you have a job in aviation. But don't spit on mine. Your right seat may have a few more ones to pad your rear, but my pasture gets a whole lot greener. Even then, I hope you can get over yourself so that one day when you sit in recurrent for the Airbus you don't make a fool of yourself by heckling the 737 drivers in the same building about how they make 3 dollars less an hour than you for the same number of seats.