Originally Posted by
poopplop
Because it’s a win-win for mainline management/senior pilots. The pilots get subsidized wages and PS checks, while management saves money by resetting earned seniority, and by avoiding the mainline union when negotiating pay/benefits to fly the RJs.
But I’m sure Gone Flying knew this before making that misdirecting post, since he already said mainline would need to take a pay cut to end outsourcing and fly the RJs at market rates with their own pilots…. I'm sure he's smart enough to know the difference between “less pay” and “subpar pay”. But I’m not sure why he avoids mentioning this in all of his attempts to justify "less pay" to fly smaller planes… Perhaps an unwillingness to call it what it is?
There is a lot more that goes into operating cost than just pilot pay. There is additional pay for flight attendants, mechanics, crew scheduling, support staff, training cost for all employee groups, additional parts inventory, etc. Mainline pilots will not fly rj’s because the total cost of bringing them in house would exceed the benefits. This added expense is why United has avoided adding a new SNB fleet type. It’s just cheaper to sub out. Hopefully as demand increases and the 50 seaters age out, the outsourcing will be reduced.