Originally Posted by
FangsF15
Who waited 20 years for their very first opportunity at a legacy? Noone. Even 15 years to the left seat is NOT the historical norm. Like, not even close? Those who waited 15ish years are an abberation of the lost decade. Mid-single digit years is the historical norm, and is exactly where we are headed back to for those hired today.
And you also realize that the number of pilots who will have 40 years in this industry is miniscule, right? Go look at your list for pilots with a current retirement date of, say 2063 or later. DL has less than 200. And the number of those who are currently in the left seat at DL, and might have 40 years in the left seat of a legacy is... six. Those pilots hit the friggin lottery. And I'd venture to guess they are fully aware of thier incredibly good fortune. Why can't you just be happy for them? Seriously.
Noone denies there is a sizable group who were extremely unlucky post-9/11, and had a really rough road. Like, horribly rough. But pointing to extreme outliers is not a compelling argument, to say the least. It just makes one look bitter.
Im the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s most (not all) averaged at least 10 years to rock bottom reserve CA. Not true in the past decade or so.
Most pilots flew S/O - FE for several years before upgrading to FO.
Very few went straight FO and if they did it was it was into a 737/100/200 - DC-9 not straight into a 737 Max - 757 or A320 or ever a wide body.
B scale - most younger pilots doesn’t even know what is the B scale. Thanks ALPA for educating the newest members on the battles of the 80’s NOT!
At AA if you were new hire in the mid 80s through the early 90s, you earned a max of 50% of any A scale pilot, forever!
The B scale spread throughout the entire industry with United going on strike over the B scale in 1985.
It took about 17 years to get rid of the B scale at American. And most airlines had some form of a B scale (significantly reduced pay for 5 to 10 years) at all majors.
In 2005 at Continental new hires made $30,000 a year with no insurance for six months. Run that through an inflation calculator you’ll see the new hires today are making far more than that or what pilots were in the 80s and 90s under the B scale adjusted for inflation.