The ability to strike will enforce "proper" action and accountability to the desires of labor groups. Simply having the "ability" to strike would not automatically lead a labor group to kill the company.

If a company can't afford fair market value set by past precendence then it should not be in business in the first place. Again, I believe we will have MAJOR contraction in this industry and we should. If that means my current job, I'm ok with that as long as it will benifit the whole.

I've seen you post similar sentiments in other threads before and I can't conclude anything other than you just don't get that when the lowest common denomenator is allowed to be in the equation, something else is at risk.

You act as if there is no correlation between management actions and safety and that is dangerously inaccurate.

We currently don't have any reasonable way to curtail managements actions or reactions that directly affects safety. We NEED that help for so many more reasons than just the paycheck.

If there is major contraction to be had in the airline industry, it is going to be amongst the legacies.




The lowest common denominator is an outfit like Southwest. Their kind of operation is not going anywhere. They are able to make a profit, pay their pilots well, operate safely, keep costs/fares low, and do all of those things consistently.

Safety
 

The airlines are safe. The employees are not comfortable but there is no evidence that there is a safety issue. SWA makes money because they work their employees to the bone. They are conditioned to do it and the legacies need to step up to match it or else they will go away.

Even SWA is at risk. The lowest common denominator is the company that can get its employees to do the most work for the least wages. It is only a matter of time before someone comes along as a real threat to SWA. Whoever they are the pilots will work more and for less money. And, most likely it will be staffed by ex-legacy pilots who are happy to have a job.

SKyhigh

By this measure everyone should hate their job in order to be compensated at a respectable level.

Many Athletes are compensated alot more than your average American. Since they enjoy their sport should those Athletes be compensated less?

Kind of a bleak view, in my opinion, believe it or not most people probably take pride in a career they enjoy.

The difference between a recreational pilot and a professional career pilot is that the professional career pilot is responsible for getting large groups of people from point A to point B safely. Recreational pilots take a ride down to the airport on a Sunday morning and if they don't like the weather, they turn around go home, crack open a beer, and watch the game.

Not much more
 

What is a fair market value? If a start up can fill 737 ground school classes with the promise of captain wages of 50K then that is the fair market price.

I bet that if a company were to advertise captain job openings in the 757 they would be overrun by people wanting to do it for less than 35K.

The free market has been creeping in since deregulation. Pilot wages will not stop falling until they reach a point where people will stop sending in resumes' for the wages offered.

Skyhigh

You know something, believe it or not, I will agree with you on that one.

As much as I don't like it, their probably will be pilots with that low of an opinion of themselves who would willingly take the job.

I may not see eye to eye with you, but I'll give you that one.:)

Restriction
 

There has to be some kind of restriction to career entry in order to promote value. Some jobs are not fun at all others demand a lot of difficult training, education or apprenticeships in order to get in. It takes more of a sacrifice to become professionally licensed to cut hair than it does to become an airline pilot.

Flying is perceived as a fun, easy, respectable and non-work form of employment. People are clawing at the walls to get in at any price. In the past age limits, physical attributes and skill requirements restricted entry into the profession. Automation has made the job much easier to the point where a brand new commercial MEL pilot could serve as an airline FO.

Today the market is wide open. Anyone no matter how old, fat, blind, capable or incapible can get a job as an airline pilot. It takes 6 months to go from zero to hero. There are few restrictions to professional entry. Add to that that the market is already over bloated with pilots while the industry needs to constrict. There will be a glut of sidelined pilots for a decade or more.

A lot has changed to our profession since 1978. As a result pilots have no value anymore on the open market. They are slaves to the seniority system and do not have portable value. The only way to restore some worth is to find a way to restrict entry into the marketplace of new pilots. However this is America and we believe in open skies and the free market.

Skyhigh

Did you miss the last couple of quarterly reports? They were profitable because of a gamble. They just lost when oil dropped. SWA is a great company; however, they are coming into line with their legacy friends in terms of cost. Welcome to the party :)

Desparate for a job
 

I don't think it is a matter of self worth so much as desperation for a job that drives pilots to work for so little.

I am a good example of a pilot who is sidelined until a job comes along that suits my needs. I can not accept a position that would make me commute across the country, virtually abandoning my family, for 28K. Plenty of others will however.

Skyhigh