Road/Bug,

I'll bite. Yes. Hourly (in the 121 world) is based upon flight hours - push back for departure to parking at the gate after arrival (for the most part.) There are some expcetions to this, such as Southwest Airlines its' pays pilots according to "trips" which equal a specific leg from Dallas to Houston (various trips are then paid at a ratio to this baseline) but for the the majority, you get paid for the time you fly and you are then typically guaranteed a minimum number of hours of pay per month, regardless if you fly them or not. (e.g. your guar. is 70 hours. You fly 63, you get paid for 70, but if you fly 75 you get 75 (w/some airlines paying some sort of overtime for over guarantee, etc?)

Hope that helps?

PS - BTW, Road if you're waiting for weather and you've already left the gate and out on the tarmac somewhere, that's flight hour pay too, but if you're weather delayed in the crew lounge, it's not! Per diem is all time at the airport or at work (on the road, etc) but it's typically only a few bucks an hour (500-100 additional month) to cover meals, lattes, etc.!!!