Originally Posted by
Elvis90
The reason for the bonus from an AF perspective is to ensure they have an adequate pilot inventory once the airlines begin hiring. If I were making the case to leadership for approval of a bonus, I would point to the mandatory retirements projected for all the airlines (currently at about 2,000 by 2015) and say we need our pilots under contract to ensure they won't bail at that time. Even though budgets are tight, it's a small price to pay to retain experience that resulted from very expensive training programs.
The funny thing about the bonuses that I remember is that not a single pilot who was planning on getting out for the airlines at the same time (and I'm talking the '96-2000' timeframe here when I first got the bonus) took the carrot because the bonus was nothing compared to what those years were worth when comparing them to potential earnings with the seniority number. In my opinion, the bonus was like 'thank you' money for NOT leaving.
USMCFLYR