Originally Posted by
ClipperJet
I've said this over and over and over again...
If we didn't demand to be paid by the size/seats on the airplane then management wouldn't be able to use our own arguments (more revenue generated/responsibilty for more lives) against us.
But, since we DO make this agrument, we HAVE to expect them to do so. 88 seats is 88 seats. That's 88 seats of revenue. That's 88 passenger lives we're responsible for.
If we all were being paid by seniority/years of service instead of aircraft type we wouldn't care if it was a 50 seat RJ or a 747-400. The pay would be the same. It'd probably still be gowning down, but management would have a more difficult time making the case.
No, we do need to get paid by seats, and here's why...
Seats = revenue capacity. By demanding a percentage of revenue, we have the hope of someday making 200K+.
If we just get paid to do the job, regardless of revenue capacity, then management will drive down wages based on the fact that small airplanes can't generate enough revenue to pay higher salaries. Pretty simple there...if there's not enough income, you can't pay out money you don't have. Unfortunately management would just consider the rate for the smallest airplane as being fair for any size airplane...you're doing same job, right?
This is actually the way UPS does it...it works OK for them because their smallest airplanes are still pretty large, and their cargo op generates WAY more revenue than PAX. But in the pax world, we would all be getting paid whatever a 50-seat RJ could support...which isn't much with oil at $150.
I said we need to get paid by seats, but the devil is in the details...we ACTUALLY need to get paid by certified seating capacity of the airplane, not actual seats installed...
If you install fewer seats, you should be able to make more money...
1) By installing premium seats for which you charge more than the economy seats they replaced AND/OR
2) Carrying more cargo...this is a big money-maker (or should be) for anything larger than an RJ.
RJ's only have enough cargo space for their baggage and a few small high-priority packages.
We should demand to get paid by the certified seating capacity of the airplane, because that approximates the revenue capacity. It's up to management to USE that capacity properly.