Originally Posted by
UNDGUY
The point about the pay is very true. Larger aircraft should equal more pay, that is a no-brainer. But why can't we have the larger airplanes along with more pay at a regional. I really like the idea of the single pilot list too. Are there any airlines that do this? Allow you to just move from a regional to a major when you have the seniority without changing jobs. Why do the majors even contract out the regional flying? Why don't they just operate all of their own routes? I think instead of using the regionals as a 4-5 year stepping stone it would be much more beneficial to the employees and the employer if they just raised the standards and quality at regionals and retained employees for the long-term. Turnover costs companies lots of money that could be saved and put into better pay.
The airlines enjoy the advantage of competition at the regional level to keep labor costs down. They don't WANT all those junior pilots on their list, they would be more organized in negotiations for small- airplane pay, and then that pay would only go up with longevity. The ideal situation for an airline would be to own and operate zero airplanes, and contract out ALL flying...this get's hard to do with the big airplanes because the older pilots are a lot wiser.
There is one and only one reason why regionals are not already on mainline's list: Military Pilots
How does a pilot get into the airlines? The current system has a 23 year old CFI starting at the regionals, working his way up for 6-12 years, then going to the majors. A military pilot has a ten year committment, so by the time he wants an airline job he is 30-something, with a wife, kids, and accustomed to earning $120K+
A single list would require EVERYONE to start at the bottom in the turboprop (or maybe 50 seat RJ), both the CFI and the military guy. The simple fact is that in the traditional military culture of the major airlines it is unthinkable to force that ex-fighter pilot to start at the bottom. The current seniority system allows him to bypass all the crap and go right to the 737/320.
This is understandable in terms of his experience level, but this system is costing the pilot groups dearly because it so conducive to whipsawing...regional vs. regional just to get the flying, forcing wages down. Then mainline pilots get pressured by the low cost of their own regionals!