Freezingflyboy, Johnso, et al -
Believe me when I say that we share your frustration in the 70 seat rates. But like I said before, they had to take the lesser of two evils (I say "they" because I wasn't a part of the group when this was all negotiated). Personally, without our scope clause we'd have higher pay but a lot of our pilots would have been on the street had the company been able to set up Republic as an alter-ego as opposed to the one list, one contract we have now. So, instead of fighting for pay and losing guys, they lived to fight another day...which is now. This is the first negotiation since those rates were set up and I trust that our guys in the negotiating room will do what is right. I also trust that our pilot group will not lower the bar but raise it.
While it's not much of an excuse, there wasn't a single 170 on the horizon when that contract was negotiated and I believe many people thought it was a pipe dream that it would even come here (at least that's what I'm told). Low and behold, once the ink was dry here they came. While I'm remiss to call it a mistake on our part, it certainly didn't help matters. Keep in mind most of you at AWAC, XJT, etc. have been slowly bettering your contract over 30+ years. We've had one in place for a third of that time and I think ours is pretty damn competitive in a lot of areas with the rest of the industry. While it may not be the best in ALL areas, I do believe it is the best in some. Problem is, it's also the worst in some as far as clarity and wording are concerned. Like I said before though, I'm pretty hopeful that it won't go anywhere but up from here...especially with a company as profitable as ours.
What burns me is being called a bottom-feeder when my work rules and my W2 are comparable to most of my friends in the industry. Of course, I'm just a 50 seat guy so I can't speak for the widebody fliers. We all have different problems at every carrier, but some how ours are "worse" than everyone elses. It also bothers me because I came to CHQ specifically because they WEREN'T bottom-feeders. I tried to find a regional that included a reasonably quick upgrade, good pay, attractive bases, and decent work rules. I came up with CHQ...then they closed MCO. But, 3 outta 4 ain't bad.
Sharky