Originally Posted by iahflyr

To the original poster, I'd recommend asking this question anywhere other than an online forum. OH GOODIE! it's the perfect place to ask the question You will get a far different type of response. Some will have my view unlikely and some will have another view. The people who post on this forum tend to be very radically pro union not so and have some radical views such as? on what is right and wrong. There is also a difference between what people say on here, and what they actually do.

I don't understand why that is such a hard concept for people to grasp. they all grasped it a long time ago

Why do pro athletes go to the minor leagues where they barely make anything? hmmm, baseball analogy, let's see And why do athletes spend 4 years playing in college where they make nothing? football analogy now, lets see.. They suffer through the low pay because there is a chance they can move to the next level in their career and make significantly more money. okay, maybe we'll get the punch line below?

Why do doctors go to med school for many years, then put up with up with 80 hour work weeks during their residency? Because there is a good chance that they will be making very good money later on. because everyone is in it for the money? Where's the end to the baseball/NFL-CFB analogy?

Why do airline pilots put up with 20k a year starting pay at a regional airline? Because they believe that one day they will be able to move on and make significantly more money. that's true, not sure how it related to picking up open time

If top pay for an airline captain was 90k a year, regional pilots top out below that for the most part far fewer people would suffer through 20k a year at a regional. yet they feel happy not applying to a major Less candidates mean the airlines would have to pay more. or they'd make 1 pilot cockpits - see Embraer reveals vision for single-pilot airliners

That doesn't mean that pilots at FedEx and UPS should take a pay cut so that regional pilots will make more, it is simply an observation that is factual. okay, now I'm lost The more money you are likely to make at the end of your career, the lower pay you are probably willing to take on to get into that career. It's true with athletes, it's true with doctors, it's true with pilots, it's true with every career. and that's why its good to pick up open time... oh wait, I'm confused...

Originally Posted by iahflyr

I've never had an issue with doing it. SHOCKED... wait, shocked. Lower case. Picking up flying is part of the job. I never pick up any trips. I could bid off reserve and pick up trips but I don't. But you call when I'm on reserve and I'm there promptly... and I make the airline look darn good. It's not your fault that the company hired too many people. as long as your in who cares right? where are you in btw? Coex? Cal? Fly what you need to fly to make the job worth it to you. That is one of the advantages to being more senior, and like it or not, that is part of the industry. I agree, this mindset is a part of the industry, small part, but there nonetheless. It's generally classified as the *******s of the industry, a small disliked subset.

It would increase your companies chance of growing from the perspective that it is much cheaper to have 1 pilot fly 100 hours a month so, when said pilot times out at the end of the year who then flies in their place? than it is to have 2 pilots fly 50 hours, who flies 50 hours? Most min pay is 70-80. So, a pilot decides to fly 100 hours then really you're not reducing your need by half, what happens is (say 75 hour is the min) you need 3 pilots to fly 100 hours in order not to need a fourth pilot. When you get pilots to fly 100 hours a month you're running the risk of more sick calls and more 30/7s and so forth. So maybe you need to keep that other pilot anyways. However, if the pilots didn't pick up open time they'd need everyone.

You know, what would save money, if every sick call required a doctors notice and there was no sick time pay. That'd save the airline a fortune.

but that is not why I pick up open time. I pick up open time because there is a financial benefit to doing so. $10 says if they didn't pay you'd pick it up anyways.

Originally Posted by captscott26

Ok, I'll say it. That is how a SCAB would answer that question.