I agree that the current pay scales are much less than my statements about "twice the pay". However we all know that in the minds of the legacy guys they are all expecting to go back to the pay and benefits that they enjoyed five years ago someday. I don't think that will happen. Other statements that I made mentioned that a few of the legacy carriers were "beginning to resemble the LCC's". Therefore I think I appropriately addressed the current situation in previous postings. My position is that management at Delta is trying to make the pay cuts stick for the long haul and to get a little bit more if they can, like do away with the retirement plan.

As far as RJ's go. I am sure that they all would dry up and blow away if pilots at the bigger carriers would start to fly MD80's and 737's at RJ pilot wages. Scope clauses and pay traditions have drawn a line in the sand in regards to pay scales of airframe types. NWA is attempting to do away with that superstition and get their pilots to fly the 100 seat RJ at prevailing RJ wages. Next I think is that they will try and move a bigger jet like an MD80 into Newco and so on. Before long the RJ's will all be gone to South America and NWA pilots will be operating the same routes with MD80s at RJ wages and so will everyone else.

Some here feel that I am attacking aviation and I am not really. There will always be airplanes to fly and pilots willing to fly them. The change will be that pilots are not going to he as highly paid as in past generations. In the near future I think that prevailing wages for a domestic jet captain will be near 90K. International rates will be a bit higher. Employee funded health care and 401K but no generous retirement programs.


SkyHigh