Originally Posted by
wags3539
I think one of the biggest problems is the mentality that pay should be based on what you fly. I don't care if it has 19 seats or 500 seats, you should be paid to fly as a professional pilot accordingly. It should be a longevity pay scale across the board. If you've been with the company 20 years and want to fly an RJ, you should have that option and still have the ability to make a decent living. If that means the junior guys are stuck flying across the pond making a lower wage until they build up their seniority, then that's how it should be since that's what their seniority holds. Personally, I have no desire to ever fly international routes, and I enjoy flying 5-6 times a day if it's an efficient schedule, but since the highest paying jobs appear to be long haul international flights (ignoring southwest in this example), that kind of forces people into them. Lets be honest, we all essentially do the same thing regardless of the size of the A/C (although I'm sure plenty of people on here are about to tell me otherwise).
Not one being in the industry I would have **assumed** (and we all know what that can lead too) that the pay went up with the bigger toys because you were reponsible for a more expensive piece of equipment, more lives (crew and pasengers), more risk (ETOPS), probably in the past the systems and knowledge might have been more complex, and it was just the way the airline went - start out on *smaller* equipment and strive to fly the heavy iron.
I like the idea of same pay based on senority I guess. I have always like the smaller, sleeker looking planes - probably why I have always been attracted to the corporate planes. But then there was a time when I didn't know what I knoew about the Regionals when I would have enjoyed (or thought I would have) gaining seniority in a good regional and staying on there, flying the CRJs/ERJs on shorter legs and because everyone was wanting to move up and out I would be able to gain the seniority that allowed me bid the best route fairly quickly.
But the more time I have spent on this forum in the last few years I have seen, heard, and learned more than I ever did beofre and am now much more knowledgeable about the realities of the industry.
Wags - why do YOU think that the higher pay goes to the bigger equipment?
USMCFLYR