I don’t know what was said in a random conference call in the past, but fortunately conference calls aren’t the written word. Though our policy manual isn’t legally binding, it is a statement of trust between the pilots and the company. It is the trust that keeps unions at bay.
Management would have to want to raise first year pay so badly that they would be willing to accept a union on property to do it, because I believe that’s what would follow if they would do something so drastic.

They can get away with some things like working someone into a day off here or there because it affects one person at a time and it doesn’t create big waves. However, rewriting pay scales against policy would be an entire different ballgame. That affects everyone all at once.