Originally Posted by
JetJock16
It doesn't start or end with the regionals, bottom line is if mainline restricts regionals from operating certain a/c then it's irrelevant what we get paid. Plus if we over price ourselves then our futures are short lived (i.e. Comair, AWAC and XJT). Yes their current contracts are still near the top of the regional industry but they are concessionary. And just like at the regionals there are Majors/ Legacy’s that make more than others.
Also the thought of scoping ourselves to small a/c is ridiculous. If SKW’s pilot’s restrict Mgmnt to 50 seats than we’ll stagnate or shrink while ASA grows and if ASA joins SKW in scoping themselves then Comair, Mesaba, Freedom, Shuttle or Pinnacle will grow. No the buck stop at the source and only at the source. If DAL, UAL, CAL, US or AA scopes at 50 seats then every regional that operates for them must abide by the scope language. Don’t blame the regional industry for Mainline’s MEC short sightedness.
This is the reality at the regional level.
Since we can be easily and quickly disposed of and replaced by another regional, we cannot ask for "industry leading" compensation, only "industry ballpark". A major pilot group can obtain higher compensation, and it will not shut down their airline in the short-term, and other groups can then follow suit.
We cannot scope ourselves to a max aircraft size. Remember, regional pilots consist of two camps...lifers and upwardly-mobile. The upwardly-mobile crowd want most of the same things that major pilots want, but they obviously don't want their regional to lose all of it's flying and liquidate. The lifers want anything they can get...if you let them they will fly widebodies for a a 15% overide on 50-seat rates
Ultimately, regionals will fill any power vacuum left by major pilot groups...there are enough lifers and 300-hour 90-day wonders out there to ensure that. Whining about the reality is a waste of time. All a regional pilot can reasonably do is not work at a bottom-feeder (or conduct militant labor actions at his bottom-feeder).
Got Scope? Senior widebody CA's don't care about scope, but all the other mainline guys had better have that as your #1 priority...everything else is just deck chairs on the Titanic.
And it's not just a problem at YOUR major airline...as soon as one large major outsources narrowbodies, everyone else is eventually doomed too. Hopefully Midwest does not succeed with this.