I will make this perfectly clear so that we as a collective profession understand the negative impact of hiring bonuses.

1. They are there solely to sidestep a collective bargaining agreement.
2. They have a history of being implemented in an underhanded and dishonest way.
3. You will forever be branded in the industry as someone who took immediate gain while undermining the pilots that have given decades of service to save the job you just took.

Indigo and certain other financial organizations rely on our stupidity and greed in order to line their pockets and subsidize their outsized profits.

Make no mistake, Indigo has plans of world domination. We can stop them and still have a robust airline but we MUST all take ownership of our careers by avoiding Frontier while working under these conditions - regardless of your particular situation.

Don't be a scab. Stay away until we have a contract.

 

Your message falls short because of throwing the scab word around in a willy nilly fashion. Your point is taken on hiring bonuses, but you do know that has nothing to do with scabs, eh?

Are you avoiding Frontier? Did you unceremoniously turn your wings in? Just curious.

 

The point is to illustrate for those that are entering into the profession that their efforts are indeed harming the very career they wish to sustain. Once the Railway Labor Act, and in particular NMB, was forced upon the airline pilot profession, we have, in fact, been neutered. We have no say.

Why?

Because the airlines collectively lobbied successfully for the implementation of a system that gave maximum latitude to the businesses and minimum to the people that actually make the money. It is no more complicated than that.

We have the power to affect change.

Regardless of which airline you work for, it is absolutely imperative that we make it difficult for companies the Indigo (Frontier) to exploit talent for immediate gain.

 

Taking a new hire bonus and crossing a pocket line are two completely different things. Lets not confuse terms

 

Yes, I agree. I am simply trying to illuminate the destructive nature of these bonuses and the lack of leverage we have within the framework of the NMB process.

 

To be clear, I am advocating for a level playing field. I want all airlines to be competitive and profitable. Some airlines, however, are attempting, in a not so small way, to make wages their primary method of extracting a profit. If you want to increase the density of the airframe...fine. If you want to have a pay-per-item model, fine. But exploiting the piloting profession in order to achieve maximum profit is not acceptable.

 

Wow.

Let's settle down a bit. Scabs cross picket lines. Signing bonuses are not great for our career, but let's not confuse the two.

Thousands of pilots have taken them at virtually every regional in the country for many years now.

I understand that it's time for big pay raises at Frontier and signing bonuses benefit the company more than the pilot group.

 

We also aren’t offering signing bonuses so this is not an issue it’s speculation.

 

By definition, you are likely correct. In practice, they are achieving nearly the same thing. The hiring bonus is just a pretty way of going about partially circumnavigating the CBA. It looks clean. But the reality is that if they (the less reputable companies) were to follow the CBA, that they refuse to improve, they could not attract pilots. The honest solution would be to do like many of the successful carriers and adjust to the times.

The pilots that have been here before the bonuses are subsidizing higher wages for those junior to them. And this further delays a deserved contract. Those of us that have been in this profession for more than a minute have seen much. We all want to do good by our employers but unfortunately, there are a few well-financed operations that have no mutual respect for those that work hard for them.

 

How about another account and try again?