Old 01-19-2010 | 01:08 PM
  #138  
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FlyJSH
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Originally Posted by winglets
The best chance for the Colgan pilots to get a decent contract is for you to not go there and give them leverage for their contract negotiations.

Look at their pay here.. http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/a...olgan_air.html

75 hours X $21 = $18,900/year. You will take home less than that. You get no 401K matching (if that has changed the Colgan pilots can correct me)
for your second year... 75 hours X $26 = $23,400/year.

This is the pay for a 70 seat aircraft.


Comparison?

Horizon - Q400 (70 seats)
75 hours X $29 = $26,100/year. You get 401K matching ($1 for $1 up to 10%) This is another $2,610/year. 1st year = $28,710
for your second year... 75 hours X $39 = $35,100/year. + $3,510 401K = $38,610 for your second year.
http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/a...rizon_air.html
All true as far as I can tell.

And let's take those numbers a little further and look at cost of living:

Horizon's bases are SEA and PDX
Probably most of the Colgan new hires will go to EWR or IAH

Let's say "Fred" earns $20,000
Houston is the cheapest, so we will use it as the reference
For Fred to have the same standard of living in ________ he would need to earn _____.
Houston - $20,000
Newark - $24,414
Portland - $25,446
Seattle - $30,785
Cost of Living Comparison

Again, using Houston as the reference, here are the first and second year pays converted for the standard of living:
Horizon PDX: $19,053 $25,623
Colgan IAH: $18,900 $23,400
Colgan EWR: $14,742 $18,252
Horizon SEA: $12,006 $16,145


So, would I like to have the work rules Horizon has? Absolutely. However, no disrespect meant to the folks in Oregon, but a couple thousand per year isn't enough to make me up and move to Portland.



If Fred chooses to commute, the number of variables increases and I just don't care to figure them out.

Food for thought