Greed. Yes that gets unions and pilots in trouble. The ones with 3-5 years from retirement often negotiate contracts they think might hurt the company and cause problems. As you can see above it gets management in trouble too.
So....
You can negotiate to keep your pay lower than you know you can get and, hopefully, stay competitive.
Or
You can go for all you can get, bank the amount over what you calculate would keep the company competitive, and be prepared to start over at a JetBlue if necessary.
The only problem is even if you keep your pay lower than it could/should be it doesn't prevent the competition from finding a way to undercut your pay. Which leads to claims that you are leading the race to the bottom.
There is no easy answer here. My personal recommendation is profit sharing and options. This keeps everyone more focused on the health of the company. Which is indeed out of control of the pilots, but at least everyone is less likely to choke the golden goose.
If you are looking at this like an investor and don't give a poop about people, pilots or otherwise, we probably won't agree here. I don't believe in unbridled capitolism and am currently disgusted how America treats its workers.
Last edited by Gunter; 10-20-2006 at 10:26 AM.