Alfa,

It's not that difficult of a question. $5,000 per hour for a DC-9 FO on reserve at 70 hours per month puts him at $350,000 per month and $4.2 million per year.

We wouldn't be justified in asking for that much because historically pilots wages have never commanded that amount of buying power and and it would be an exponential jump over what we have had in the past.

In essence, I've always heard that back in the 1970's a captain could buy a car with one months check. I've never heard that his first officer could buy a house/mansion with one months check.

As professionals, we should always move our pay and benefits forward, not backwards.

To run a counter to your argument, maybe you could explain to us why $50 per hour for a B-747-400 captain would be too low of a pay rate in your mind?


If we cut to the chase and eliminate the extreme examples, it comes down to the historical buying power of us, as pilots. Our buying power has been severely cut over the decades, especially this last one.

Now if you want to explain to me why we should accept this decrease in buying power, that's the discussion I'll be looking forward to.


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