Originally Posted by
NG pilot
Wow VF32tomcat is right. Look at Atlas air B767 fifth year, it only pays $146 an hour times 62 guarantee, Eastern is $146 x 70, And look at Spirit fifth year pay $136 x 72. A blind man see best.
Thanks PotatoChip but I see what VF32tomcat is trying to say.
The numbers are fact, no doubting that. However, 5th year CA pay at Eastern is no less fictional than 2nd year 767 CA pay at Atlas, or Delta for that matter, no one is in those pay rates. And even to some extent Spirit, as no one was in those pay rates when the contract was negotiated 5 years ago, though they are now, or at least close at 3rd year captains. It's somewhat comparing apples to oranges. The reality is, no one is making more than $110/hr at Eastern (except perhaps check airman), compared to what the average pay at Atlas, Spirit, or any other airline he listed. To just pick the later years as a comparison when no one is getting that pay doesn't paint a clear image of what people are really earning.
Sure the pay scale is what it is, they clearly ramp up the increases in the later years, but no one is getting them yet, and there's no guarantee that they will make it that long. I hope for their employee's sake they do, but those pay rates are not something the company has to contend with now, other than as a tool to help attract people to work there.
And let's face it, one thing Eastern can't offer is job stability. Regardless of their financial backing, they are a startup, and history hasn't been kind to startups. It may pay greatly to those that take that risk one day (think jetBlue), but it is a risk (think Skybus)!