Pilot Paychecks:


Pilots at Delta are paid in arrears for their services. We are paid that way because unless you are on reserve, there is no minimum guarantee. You could fly 100 hours or 0 hours, and be paid accordingly. The company can't pay you until the month is complete and payroll has calculated your earnings and deductions. You get paid that amount on the 15th, minus the flight advance, which you were paid at the end of the previous month. That is why it is called an advance... it is an advance on your monthly pay. It is a smaller amount because if you didn't fly much, you could potentially be looking at a zero or negative amount for the middle of the month, and negative amounts wreak havoc with accounting practices.

We used to have a "full service bank". With this system, you could bank up to 60 hours positive and go negative 20 hours. With this system, you could 'even out' your mid month paycheck if you were going to be short, or add more if you needed some extra smack. You could 'go negative' and in effect borrow money. Many of us "went negative" before the paycuts, because you paid back your bank at your current pay rate. As I recall, the bank hours also counted as credit and you could create mini vacations for yourself, drop trips, and do other tricks that I have long since forgotten.

If you were a new hire at Delta, while you were in indoc, you were paid as a ground employee, a normal salary. That's why when you switched to flight pay, after ground school, you had a teeny tiny paycheck, because the company had already paid you up front for your efforts in ground school, then you had a "break" while you transitioned to being paid in arrears. In other words, the company looked back at your ground school, and you had already been paid.

If we give up the flight advance, then there will be a two week period where we won't get a paycheck.

We all get paid a min guarantee. We can easily get paid half of the min guarantee on the first, then on the 15th we can get the rest of the pay plus the previous months overs/per diem.

Almost every other airline does it this way. NWA did it this way & you could still pay into or borrow from your bank.

[quote=johnso29;804135]We all get paid a min guarantee.


What is it?

B. Regular Line Guarantee

1. The line guarantee of a regular pilot will be the lesser of:
a. the scheduled credit of his adjusted line,
b. 65 credit hours, or
c. his block hour limitation.
Exception: A pilot holding a blank regular line is not entitled to a line guarantee.

2. A regular line guarantee will be computed at the pay rate(s) of the aircraft model(s) shown on the pilot’s adjusted line. If multiple aircraft models are shown on such line, the pilot’s line guarantee will be prorated. Such prorate will be based upon the amount of scheduled credit for each aircraft model shown on such line.

3. A regular line guarantee will be reduced by:
a. pay and credit for a rotation(s) (or a portion thereof) dropped due to an unpaid leave(s) of absence (including a personal drop(s)) or furlough, or
b. the net reduction in pay and credit resulting from a swap(s).

4. An international small-category pilot who is assigned (i.e., not awarded as the result of a bid) a regular line with scheduled credit less than 65 hours will receive a reserve line guarantee in lieu of a regular line guarantee.

C. Reserve Line Guarantee

1. The line guarantee of a reserve pilot for credit purposes will be 70 hours, and for pay purposes, will be the total dollar value determined as follows:
a) 70 hours
minus
b) his accumulated credit in the bid period, the result of which will be
multiplied by
c) the hourly rate of the highest paying aircraft model that all pilots in his category may be required to fly in the bid period, the result of which will be
added to
d) the dollar value of his accumulated credit in the bid period.

Note one: Subject to Section 4 G., the dollar value of the accumulated credit in Section 4 C. 1. d), will be computed at the hourly rate of the highest paying aircraft model that all pilots in his category may be required to fly in the bid period.

Note two: International pay for a pilot’s flight time flown in international operations in the bid period will be added to the dollar value of the accumulated credit in Section 4 C. 1. d).

Exception one: A reserve line guarantee will be reduced 1/30th or 1/31st
for each vacation day (as provided under Section 7 G. 2)) and for each CQ training day (as provided under Section 11 B. 2.).

Exception two: A reserve line guarantee will be reduced by 1/18th
for each on-call day(s) removed from a pilot’s line due to an unpaid leave(s) of absence (including a personal drop(s)) or furlough).

Exception three: The reserve line guarantee of a pilot who is unavailable for a reserve assignment due to fatigue while on-call will be reduced by 1/18th
of the reserve guarantee for each such day of unavailability (i.e., not the duration of the reserve assignment he was unable to accept).
Exception four: The line guarantee of a pilot on an RQ line is a pro rata portion of the ALV for each day of the bid period he is on the RQ line.

2. A pilot who is on a reserve line for a portion of a bid period will receive a reserve line guarantee that is prorated based on 1/18th of the reserve guarantee for each on-call day on his schedule.

[quote=flyallnite;804145]65 hours and we still have the full service bank. I use the bank all the time and it doesn't solve the problem of getting the right amount of taxes taken out of your check due to the pay advance value being so small.

Okay, $120B+ oil in a month. If I had $100, I'd put $40 on that.

Thanks for posting that section of the contract Nosmo, but the statement that "We all get paid a min guarantee" is still not correct. There is no MINIMUM guarantee. There is a line guarantee and a reserve guarantee, and both can be reduced to zero.

Yes you can reduce your line as much as you want resulting in 0 hours if the reserve coverage is good enough. I see your point with the pay advance issue. I'll bet the number of people who can reduce their line enough to get a check for 0 is very close to 0 due to the reserve coverage issues so I think it would be better to go the other way and make it more predictable and tax friendly for the 99.9% of us who never drop or can't drop that many trips.

Oh, you can. Just put your trips on the board, and people will pick them up. They do not count towards the max every month.

Really, this wouldnt be that hard to change. Its all done by computer, including how much credit you are scheduled for the following month.

What I think is a bigger issue for the company is the $12M that they get to hang on to for 2 extra weeks every month.

This assumes $1000 less per pilot average for 12000 pilots.

Not saying this is a priority, but its obviously an irritant to some people.