Originally Posted by
rmr1992
The number I threw out there was for illustrative purposes, to make the point that they can afford to not only pay us but give us a raise without changing anything in the way they manage the $ and without bankrupting the company. As far as $150k per pilot, worthy goal but keep dreaming, ain't gonna happen, that would be more than double current average pay per person and almost 300 mil additional spending. We can squawk all we want about what we are worth, and we ARE worth a lot, but the reality is that's a big number and they won't cough that up. Moreover I won't litigate it on a social media site with you, we have a negotiating committee that will make the magic happen for us and get us the best deal possible, which I hope is on the order of increase you suggest and I hope happens before I am hired somewhere else. If it doesn't, so be it. Regardless, an industry leading deal may not be enough to fix the damage they have done anyway. We continue to lose pilots daily and for those who stay the resentment/vitriol/ill will is going to linger for a long time...
Glad to hear your number was not meant as a suggestion and that was my point, it is damaging to even mention such low numbers even in in an "off the cuff" sort of way. I also agree our negotiating committee speaks for us!
But just as perspective, industry 6th year 767 Captain rates are $100-140 PER HOUR above ours, so at 62 hours just the difference would add $75-105k. Add line guarantee so that one actually gets paid for the 80 hours awarded, that adds another 18 hours at the increased total rate, there's another $54-62k. Then perhaps a lower than standard retirement contribution of 10%, that adds yet another $24-28k. All told $153-195k! I'm sure I have left out a few things, such as retro pay, incremental increase to existing 401k matching, etc., but you get the idea. That should be roughly the average as 747 Captain would be greater and FOs less. To expect any less is to expect failure of their stated plans.
And make no mistake, that IS affordable as we know who will actually be paying it. Do you not think Amazon et al knew coming into this that pilot costs would be increasing and they have planned accordingly? Or do you really think they are betting the house on "we have a contract and won't pay more"? When 1224 was negotiating with ABX in 08/09, it was DHL who DIRECTLY had to come up with $70 million extra for pension and pilot pay to get that contract done!