Originally Posted by
BoilerUP
The 190 (and the 175 with 82+ seats) are narrowbody replacements. They will replace DC9s, MD80s, and to a lesser extent, 737s. They fit perfectly in 100-seat market gap that used to be owned by the F28/70/100, DC9-10/30, 727 & 737-200. The same can also be said of the CRJ-705/900, equipped with 76 thru 86 seats.
The large E-Jets are true "replacement jets", not 50 seat RJs. How they are scoped is a direct threat to every airline pilot's career aspirations. They need to be mainline airplanes, flown by mainline pilots on the mainline seniority list.
The very top end of RAH's 190 CA payscale (which their 175s will be flown under due to number of seats) is slightly better than AWAC's concessionary payscale at the top for the BAe-146, and both are lower than Comair's 70 seat jet rate (pre-concessions).
In a perfect world the E175/E190 would absolutely not be flown for less than US Airways current E190 CA rates, with FO pay tied to 60% of CA pay. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world from a labor perspective - far from it. Unfortunatley, I think the best that can be hoped for is a push to get E175/E190 rates close to NWA's current book for the DC-9.
According to this website, RAH's payscales for the 175 and 190 are competitive with US Airways for captains. RAH's top pay actually exceeds that of US Airways. Pay is much less for FO's at Republic, but that is because it doesn't take 10 years to upgrade at Republic like it does at US Airways. There isn't anyone still in the left seat after ten years at RAH.
Republic: 10 year FO $36 10 year CA $88 Tops CA $114
US Airways: 10 year FO $52 10 year CA $95 Tops CA $95
I just don't see what is wrong with someone sticking with a company like RAH to fly larger aircraft if they are compensated appropriately. I for one would rather have a great seniority number at RAH as opposed to starting over again at a major and risk being junior for 10 years or worse get furloughed.