Originally Posted by robthree (Post 151249)

F9 & B6 pay premiums after 82 & 70 hours respectivly. That should allow you to bank 100 pay hours flying a bit less. Plus increasing seniority should allow you to hold more productive schedules. Bid that nice fat 82 hour line with 18 days off and pick up the balance at open time premium. As opposed to being the junior WB CA and sitting reserve, or having min days off on a composite line as you might at NW or UA, thus the lower pay hours I put in those calcuations.

Originally Posted by bluechunks (Post 151424)

Interesting thread. Too bad you missed the trees for the forrest. Hourly pay rates are only one part of total compensation.

Originally Posted by robthree (Post 143763)

I've got some time on this layover, and I like numbers... so I put together a spreadsheet analizing which carriers have the best direct (emph. added) compensation.

Originally Posted by robthree (Post 149257)

I don't claim that my numbers are gospel. I think that they're extremly speculative. ...

Critiques are quite welcome.

Originally Posted by ryane946 (Post 143775)

This is very flawed. I don't have the time to point everything out, but lets start with Virgin America.

When you upgrade to captain, you start over at year 1 pay (that's $91 an hour).


But the main point you are missing is you are looking at the short term. If you compare JetBlue A320 captain ($139) to UAL A320 captain ($131), you might think that JetBlue is a better place to work. That is wrong for three MAJOR reasons.

1. The A320 is the LARGEST equipment at JetBlue, while the A320 is the SMALLEST equipment at United (in terms of pay). Therefore, if you spend even one second on the 757, you will be making more money $$$. How about the 767, 777, 747... If you are thinking about the future, look at earnings over your entire career. How about when you have been with UAL for 18 years and are a 777 captain.
   Then how much more are you making. And remember the pay rates were cut over 50%. Soon it will be higher.
2. Stability. Where will JetBlue be in 10 years?? I don't know, neither do you, and that is my point. I will bet you $100 that all 6 legacy carriers will be around in 10 years (mergers do not count, these are good if done right). You can PanAm and TWA me all you want, but the fact is all these airlines have incredibly lucrative frequent flier programs that banks (who have lots of money $$$) are willing to pour billions of dollars in loans to make sure they don't go away. The days of legacy airlines folding is over!
3. Your United, Delta, and Northwest numbers are seriously flawed. If you were hired tomorrow, you would not be on the A320 as FO in 5 years. At continental, around 5 years, these new hires are upgrading to 737 captain. You will probably be at least a 757/767 FO lineholder.

Your numbers are flawed. I will post my numbers at a later time. But I will go to 10-15 years, and I will fix these three major flaws. Care to guess which one will be the best. I guarentee you that the lowest ones on your list will be the highest paying, and the highest ones of your list will be the LOWEST paying