Originally Posted by
Yak02
Maybe it is time for a Longevity based pay system and ditch the archaic Weight based system we have had for decades. Then nobody chases airplanes and bases which destroys their QOL for money.
Also, who cares what airplanes the company buys, fly the airplane that fits your butt. The company spends the same amount of money on pilot payroll and buys the correct airplane for their mission and doesn't have to figure in the pilot Drama.
Of course, this would be a big change for ALPA and it wouldn't fit into their Pattern Bargining scheme so it will never be discussed.
Stay the Course and hold the line!
We had a longevity based pay at CAL prior to Contract 97. The reason we switched to a differential pay system was to bring up top CA and FO pay rates. Since many more pilots top out under a longevity based pay system (even rasing the cap from a 12 year max to a 20 or 25 year cap to max out) far more pilots hit the top longevity pay numbers . This significantly lowers the top rates given the same total contractual pilot pay cost in both pay systems.
If we were to transition to a longevity pay system in our next contract we'd need significant pay increases just bring the max longevity pay up to match current CA & FO WB rates. Then on top of that negotiate further pay increases. In my opinion highly unlikely.
For a traditional International network carrier like us, I strongly believe a differential pay system is the best pay system. This honors seniority and allows senior CA's and FO's to maximize pay and retirement.
IPA at UPS is the only one I know of to successfully get their longevity pay rates up relatively high. However this has occurred over several long and intense contract battles since the late 80's early 90's.
My two cents. I like our system, but it can be tweaked to a true differential pay system which again would help the majority of our pilots and honor seniority.