Originally Posted by
hummingbear
If you’re talking about a 20-25 year FO, most of the QOL he doesn’t want to give up is more the result of bidding near single digit seniority (at least on the NB) in BES than it is contractual. He can basically do anything he wants- dictate his schedule, cherry pick trips, get endless PPU. It would be very hard to create a scenario where he can go over to the left seat & maintain that lifestyle. (RSV enhancements, for example, would not be a factor because he’s already senior enough to avoid it.)
Which is fine. Life is good at the top, so more power to anyone who wants to stay at the top of their niche rather than slug it out in another. But no matter how many work rule improvements you pass, going from 5% FO to 50% CA is always going to involve giving some things up.
Don’t get me wrong- I think there are some broadly popular QOL improvements we should be going after. But for anyone who truly is purely QOL motivated, his lifestyle will always be better in the left seat than it will in the right.
For a while spirit pilots at any seniority level had *almost* all of the benefits of the 5% FO you described. Then they gave up line bidding and a whole bunch of other things on their last contract for a small raise. They could literally clear lines down to zero, even the guys on reserve. Then go back and pick up endless PPU if they wanted.
QOL is EVERYTHING. Pay becomes more and more worthless by the day, especially these days.