Originally Posted by
buckleyboy
It is bad because a longer contract means our opportunities to negotiate become less frequent. We are unable to capitalize on the time value of gains.
In other words, we can't give away the farm for pay raises as often. And they have to wait longer to before they try to get back in office on the heels of lost gains. And they aren't needed in the office as much, meaning they actually have to fly.
It is a travesty in the making of epic proportions!
The flip side of that, is management will be willing to spend more on longer duration. So it is up to the union negotiators to make an educated guess as to where they believe the industry is headed. If you ask me, I would take longer duration for more pay right now, I'm pretty good at predicting the market. That said, I would wait till the 2016 election is settled, if Bernie gets in, some pilots will see up to a 30% tax increase on take home pay, so that will have to be considered in the negotiation.