Originally Posted by
Delta1067
With the upcoming payraises a 2nd year FO at Delta can pull down six figures. No way is it going to take 7 years to break even, maybe a few and it's all gravy after that.
I admit, I did not take the extra time to comb through Delta's contract for pay bumps, only Spirit's (this is a Spirit thread), but here's what I came up with using APC's #'s, which must surely give us a 'ballpark' estimate.
10 year XJT CA vs. new hire Delta FO = Delta earnings disparity:
- 72,000 vs. 45,360 = -26,640
- 73,800 vs. 65,520 = -8280 + -26,640 = -34,920
- 76,500 vs. 76,776 = 276 + -34,920 = -34,644
- 78,300 vs. 78,456 = 156 + -34,644 = -34,488
- 81,000 vs. 80,640 = -360 + -34,488 = -34,848
- 81,900 vs. 101,850 = 19,950 + -34,848 = -14,898
- 83,700 vs. 104,790 = 21,090 + -14,898 = 6,192
I assumed our Delta FO would get paid the average NB FO rate (DC-9, MD-88, MD-90, A319/320, 737NG) for the first 5 years, then the average widebody rate (757/767, 767-400/A330, 787, 777/747-400) for the next 6 years, and would only make Reserve guarantee of 70 hours.
As you can see, starting in Year 3, the Delta FO brings in about the same as the XJT CA (that year, the Delta FO is on a $91.40/hr rate, while the XJT CA is on an $85/hr rate, but XJT has a 5 hour greater guarantee). The jump to WB pay bridges the gap in less than 2 years.
This is a typical result. You take a hit the first year, then you make about the same (junior NB FO = senior RJ CA) until you are able to hit a pay bump. @ NB only operators it is your upgrade to CA. @ WB operators, it is your move to the WB right seat. The longer the upgrade to CA, the longer the wait to get to both the right seat of the WB and the left seat (hence why United takes so long right now, 15 years in the right seat and a bankruptcy wage scale).