Originally Posted by
Stayontarget
Indeed. The time value of money has to be considered. Though I am currently not thrilled with what I saw if they can pull 100% retro it sure helps the math.
Yes, yes it does. I've got the math on that as well...
Our contract became amendable on Jan 16, 2024. Let's use that date for start of retro.
I don't remember the 2024 12 CA rates for us or the big 3. The 2025 12 yr CA rate for AA/UA/DL is $375.28. That rate goes to $390.29 on 1 Jan 2026. Let's say we get a contract July of 2026 and it MATCHES the current AA/UA/DL rate (humor me). To get a TRUE amount of actual retro pay we would need to get the differences in pay for each of 2024, 2025 and 2026.
For 2024, let's estimate the rate difference at $90/hr. The monthly difference (using MMG for both airlines of 75) = $6,750. For a year, $81,000.
For 2025, the rate difference is $105.21. For a month, that equates to $ $7,890.75. Yearly is $94,689.
For 6 months of 2026, the rate difference is $120.22. Monthly difference is $9,016.5. Yearly is $108,198.
For 2024, 2025 and 6 months of 2026, a 12 CA at F9 has made $229,788 dollars LESS than his/her counterpart at the big 3. Anything short of this amount is less than full retro. And, of course, that difference goes up by $9016.5 every month (until 2027 when the difference increases). BTW, the difference amounts get HIGHER when compared to years less than 12 AND it assumes we get rates that same as 2026 AA/UA/DL.
In order to pay full retro to the entire pilot group, the cost would be $500M+. Full retro isn't going to happen (hasn't happened in the history of the industy IIRC) but THERE ARE A FEW WAYS TO NARROW THE GAP.
The BEST way to make up for less retro is to obtain an EQUIVALENT rate BETTER than current AA/UA/DL. Same pay rate at AA/DL/UA but less MMG, higher premium pay percentage, move vacation days, higher min day, etc. Again, THESE QoL PROVISIONS NEED TO BE SOLID provisions that can't be changed/negated by company action. Training pay needs to go to 5 hrs / day. 150% DH pay. 20% DC to 401k. Etc.
Right now, while our pay is stagnant, we're falling behind at a rate of about 15% per year (we are currently about 40-45% behind depending on the year group of pay). So, it's worth it to me to vote no IF we can get > 15% improvement in the next negotiation (given it's within the same year). Ie. a no vote would necessitate our NC asking for 15% higher rates AT LEAST.