Originally Posted by
tomgoodman
They're prepared for any news. If oil goes up: "That means higher fuel prices, so we can't afford to pay you more." If oil goes down: "That means the economy is slumping and our revenue will fall, so we can't afford to pay you more." If oil does both or neither: "That means things are uncertain, so we can't afford to pay you more."
..and our response should be that pilot's cost what they cost. Looked at analytically, this is a pretty well defined number, and it is dramatically above where we're at now. I, for one, am tired of subsidizing bad management decisions (Avolar, upside down fuel hedges, etc), which is what we're doing at UAL. As a very senior 320 F/O maxed on the pay scale, I make $94 and hour. That works out to roughly 85K a year, or 30-40K below market.