Even before these new pay increases at the regionals, many regional Captains were earning $150,000 to $175,000 /year. Now? Double that. And now regional FOs are making more to fly an EMB-145 than a mainline FO is to fly an A-350, 777, or 787. The schedule flexibility was better (at least at my regional) and I dare say the health insurance was better (at least from the perspective of a new hire on first year pay with little kids that require doctor visits that add up to thousands in out of pocket expenses with our insurance).

So even with a 15 or 20% pay increase at the mainlines, regional pilots will still be making about what mainline pilots make. And regional LCAs will still make more than almost any mainline pilot. Yea I get that long-term being at a mainline is where it’s at, but the gap is rapidly closing. The past 5 years have seen a meteoric rise in pay and benefits for regional pilots and many mainline pilots seem to have had their head in the sand as to what’s been happening. It is no longer “just wait until year 2 or year 3 pay and it will all even out.” Now it’s wait to upgrade to mainline Captain to get back to what you made as a regional Captain.

Out on the line most Captains I talk to don’t get it. They don’t understand the implications. Hopefully with all the new blood pouring into the legacies we can get some fresh ideas on how to improve pay and QOL. A rising tide lifts all boats after all does it not? 30% DOS should be the minimum.

 

You guys piling on Trip with the "I'm here for the money" quips kill me. You can find hundreds, of posts on these message boards over the years, about the sacredness of "QOL" vs the "greedy" mindset of chasing the money, hating your family in the process, etc.

Now that these AIP details have been released somehow the virtue signalers are claiming smug moral superiority chasing the money over QOL. Interesting.

 

Herk:
Really? Do you not understand that different people have different priorities. My priority like 70% before was QOL vs 30% pay. Mine has changed simply because of inflation. Now I am pretty much 50/50. But we definitely need both and it would be kind of odd to not think we need a pretty significant raise with inflation/what the non cons got/Endeavor pay situation.

 

I certainly agree that it is not "either/or" and that different folks have different priorities, and that changes over the course of a career and life. Also, I have long contended that great pay by itself contributes to "QOL" for fairly obvious reasons. And of course, strong contractual work rules are a must. This has all been discussed countless times.

But you have to acknowledge that over the years, there has been a steady current of smug, "I must love my family more than you because I don't fly greenslips" messaging by some. I've read pilots dismissing good pay raises as "a few shekels" and such tripe. Now somehow that is gospel.

It isn't "either or" for either pay, or QOL.

 

I respectfully disagree - everyone prioritizes QOL. I do however, think we agree on all but semantics. What makes up QOL is where we all differ. Pay is absolutely a component of QOL, probably the biggest component. Scheduling flexibility and time off are also pretty universally sought after. People who are more interested in pay consider that to be the biggest factor in their QOL improvement. People who are interested in scheduling flexibility and max time off consider that the biggest factor in their QOL.

To make this point suppose we at DAL for the next three contract cycles achieved massive "QOL" gains but pay was stagnant? At some point the lower pay would affect your lifestyle even if you had max days off. Like someone else said - what good is time off if you don't make enough money to live the lifestyle you are shooting for? Inflation is slowly reducing our QOL. I say slowly becasue we are all affected by inflation at different levels. If you currently have a 3% mortgage rate and no car payment you will feel it a lot less than someone currently trying to buy a house or a car but slowly but surely it will affect us all.

Its all interconnected, pay rates, scheduling rules, vacation, trip quality etc.

Scoop

 

Pay is the biggest single component of quality of life. All the other QOL items in reality move the deck chairs on which pilots fly which days but no matter how you write the contract the same number of pilots have to work weekends, holidays and fly the all nighters.

 

Ah, but what does the rest of the rotation look like that contains the red eye? Is one rotation covering all of the weekend, or are two splitting it? Is the holiday being flown by someone who is happy to do it for extra pay, or by someone who would rather not at straight pay? Is the rotation the one you were awarded and could plan your life around, or one you were rerouted into that causes chaos for family plans?

Your 330 world, with kids out of the house - there’s really not much chaos to be had and you may think these things are deck chair movements. For the majority of our list, the experience is quite a bit different.

 

These guys are the best. Meanwhile, they're line holders and are gone from home 3-4x more than I am...to each their own, even with their condescending quips.

 

Amazing isn’t it? There’s be a forum war against Greenslippers for years, endless talks about QOL, Payback days etc etc, now all of a sudden Endeavor gets a TA with mostly pay raises and incentives to work more for even more pay and now some Delta Pilots have QUICKLY changed their tune. Shows that everybody has a price for something.

 

that’s what several senior XJ lifers said when offered a flow to NWA.. sad to see this become true again.