Originally Posted by
BagMan
What you don't have is the global reach, the massive credit card deals and the higher end class of service that the big three have. They are not your peers.
Neither does Southwest (outside of the massive CC deals which they do have). And they make more than everyone. SW isn't our peer? Is Jet Blue?
Originally Posted by
BagMan
And most certainly, the NMB will NEVER look at a 321 as a pay comparative to a wide-body, no matter how many bodies you put in that 321. They never have and they never will."
I had no Idea the Mediators has so much free time they would come on APC and tell us all how it is. Unless of course YOUR NOT MEDIATORS WITH THE NMB ,and are in fact a bunch of keyboard general's so **** sure in your own view of things that you can't see any other way things might work out.
Mediating a contract like this is no easy task. the best out come from the Mediators perspective is if both sides walk away angry. The Idea of what fair pay is incredibly hard to quantify. The pay rates for various professions are widely variable (know any Teachers with Masters degrees that earn 40K/yr?)
VERY true. You are worth what you can negotiate. Is it a battle to get higher rates? Of course. But you need the pilot force that's willing to strike (or whatever the NMB lets us do). No votes are needed to see what that is.
Originally Posted by
BagMan
That said I am not sure what your advocating for. If we ratified a garbage contract I wouldn't be so sure our low rates wouldn't affect yours in mediation because while you might not think the sword cuts this way. I would bet it cuts the other way when/if your airline drags you into mediation trying to squeeze a little more "competitive advantage " out of the pilot group because say there is an economic downturn. You will be surprised how fast things like number of seats per plane matter and how little traction premium seating will get when the Mediator is "trying to balance things out" (Make no one happy)
We should all be advocating to make the Mediators job as easy as possible ALL A320 pilots should earn the same base rate. Under paying your employees by 50% is and will always be a competitive advantage. If it goes for to long your employers might start looking for ways to balance it out.
Yes, and yes. I'm advocating for myself, my fellow pilots at F9 and the industry in general. There's NO WAY anyone can convince me that this company can't find a way to make $ while paying us industry rates. The thought process is preposterous. It may not be BB, but SOMEONE (probably more than a few people) can. No airline can (nor should) survive with having to pay it's labor less. That strategy just isn't viable long term in ANY business. I can't even believe this needs to be mentioned...
If we don't get industry rates it's because we as a pilot force weren't strong enough to demand it. I'd rather this company go out of business than to accept less. If either of those look likely, I will take my retro check and leave. The Big 3 are hiring again - maybe for a short while and maybe longer. Sooner or later they'll have to again and again and again.