Originally Posted by
symbian simian
It is because the way we get paid is stupid. We only get paid when we move. Never mind we work a lot harder during a turn than in cruise.
Regular pay should start at scheduled departure time -:30, and end at actual/scheduled arrival +:15 for every individual leg. Any requirement to do more, engine run, repo, jetway doesn't work but cargo door is opened, stay to run the APU in FLL/clean the back (WTF), aso should be extra.
Reason it won't happen: Company doesn't want it, and legacy senior WB don't want it.
You don't want it either, because if pay were based off of duty time, the hourly rates wouldn't be as high. Part of the reason we can justify the hourly rate we do is that the time isn't based on the entire time we are at the airport. That's why I always find the "I'm not getting paid right now" argument to be stupid. Sure we are. We are being compensated for our jobs, which include things that are before/after block out/in, and the way that compensation is calculated is off of block time, and the pay rates are higher to reflect the fact that the block time isn't all of the hours that you're at work.
Maybe it would come out as a wash, but personally I would rather it be like it is. Any efforts to change it would be a freaking mess, and it would be utterly impossible to compare pay between airlines for pattern bargaining purposes.