It's easy to blame: it's mainline's fault, it's regionals fault, it's the MEC's fault, it's ALPA national's fault . . . anyone else?
What are you going to DO about it though?
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Mainline: The current way of doing this is
not working, trading scope for 'gains' in other areas (gains being a relative term, b/c you're still not where you used to be, and your 'gains' don't keep up with inflation). Think of a 'regional' as any another airline. Republic has the right to fly 190's (and 777's), just as you do. If Delta was considering contracting American pilots to fly Delta routes, would it be a serious problem? Well, what do you think Delta is doing with Skywest and Air France? Call it a 'code share', call it 'Delta Connection', it's still the same thing - those are Delta customers flying on aircraft not flown by Delta pilots. Not to say it's not a good business decision to expand your route network, allowing Delta to be more attractive to customers, but to continue to allow your passengers to be flown by another carrier is past the law of diminishing returns - further 'contracting' or 'code sharing' is hurting your own pilot group more than it is helping your pilot group by capturing additional passengers for your company. Just b/c the plane says 'Delta' on the side and you're wearing a double breasted jacket doesn't make it YOUR flying.
Only your pilot group's contract does that.
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Regional: Stop blaming 'mainline' for your perceived problems. You are a pilot group, just as they are. Why do many of you want to change pilot groups, to start over @ the bottom of a list? Likely, the pay and benefits of the 'mainline' carrier (or 'cargo' carrier or 'fractional' carrier - as long as you just slide in on someone else's coattails and effort, it's all the same). Well, why doesn't YOUR pilot group have those?
Your group won't negotiate them, that's why. You have just as much right to fly 777's as any other group Flying for a well known brand does not entitle pilots to higher pay and better benefits, only their contract does this, just as their scope is the
only thing that ensures their flying is 'theirs' and not yours.
The excuse 'If we get higher payrates, we'll lose our contract, and therefore our jobs' is an act in absconding responsibility. If American negotiates higher payrates, their company must pass on those costs to the customer. If the consumer refuses to pay them - bye-bye American Airlines, including the job as 'American Airlines pilot'. This is
not a uniquely regional problem. If you want the higher pay and benefits of the current 'mainline', there are two ways to go about getting it:
- be one of the dwindling # hired @ mainline, and protect and enhance what's still there, the same way you helped to ensure that you protected and enhanced what you had while you were a regional pilot
- realize that mainline pilots are no more deserving of pay and benefits than regional pilots are, and make every effort to make your current employer a place to stay, rather than a stepping stone.
What won't work is undercutting your fellow regional and mainline pilots, then feeling sorry for yourself when your own efforts ensure that the career progression you counted on evaporate before your eyes. You have to make the best of what you've got now, regardless. Asking mainline to do the work while you actively undermine their efforts will never work.
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We're all pilots and we all must take responsibility for our actions. Giving up scope to protect your pay is no more valid an excuse that undercutting every other pilot group to protect your job security. All of us must be responsible for our own scope protections and the impact that raising the costs of our contract has on our job security. There is no issues that regionals face that mainline pilots don't, or vice versa. There is no 'regional' and 'mainline'; each time we divide ourselves up, we make it easier to whipsaw one group against the other. In short, we're all in this together, and we need to start acting like it.