Originally Posted by
USMCFLYR
If these are the 'Special Pay Rates' you are speaking about - they are not incentives to stay necessarily - no more than the military bonuses were. As you say - you'll still make more in the airlines if that is the type of flying/job that you want to do; but to those who are close to retirement or don't want to work in the airlines it is a nice 'thanks for not leaving' pay increase.
Pretty much. Full disclosure: I am a northern region dude staying for 20 barring extreme duress (i.e. unit closure, forced drone flying).
That said, a couple points in defense of AMO and the SSR here. I have been personally, first-hand told by EY that the SSR is programmed already for outlying years. This actually makes sense. Remember AMO is late to the SSR for pilots, non-LEO aviators at many other agencies have been getting it since January. Rarely in the federal gov't is such a standard reduced once set (USMC, curious if you are getting it).
Also, there are a couple of advantages to this raise many have not thought of. The SSR is a locality pay, not a bonus. So it counts toward your pension. With caps, that essentially means that a career line pilot will earn a director's pension. Only has to last for 3 years to achieve that. Also, the increase will be reflected in your TSP matching funds and agency automatic. This will make a BIG difference over time.
Are there issues with it? From a management standpoint, yes. High locality pay cities are getting basically zilch. And it eliminates any financial incentive to promote. Thus why AMO balked at first, but the outcry was huge.
I think everyone in AMO realizes the SSR will do nothing to solve the issues at play in this thread. But, I was looking pretty hard at trying for a major, and now I'm not. At least for 9 more years.