There was an island in the caribbean, St. Tropic. , It had one direct flight from Miami, served by a big airline, Giant Airlines on their B-700. That big airline contracted out feeder flights to three different operators, who flew Cessna 172’s from St. Tropic to other small islands. Operator A flew to island 1, Operator B flew to island 2, and Operator C flew to island 3. Each feeder airline had one plane and one round trip route. Each Cessna had two pilots, a captain and a safety pilot. All of the pilots were paid decent, and when they got enough captain experience, they could apply for Giant Airlines. Each airline kept to itself and provided a good job for their pilots.

The island was small, and had few pilots. Being a pilot was a worthy career aspiration, but it took time, hard work and skill. But it paid well, and was worth it.

One day, the owner of Operator A, wanting revenue growth, told his pilots that if they took a pay cut of $2 an hour, they might be able to take the flying from operator B, and add a new plane to the fleet to fly that route. This new plane would have a full autopilot, a GPS, shiny new instruments and a sweet paint job. This would also require hiring 2 more pilots, and upgrading the current safety pilot to captain of the new plane. The pilots said sure, seeing that there would be more movement and a new plane.

Well, Operator A got the contract for operator B’s flying due to being cheaper, and put those pilots out of jobs (They ended up getting hired by operator A at first year safety pilot pay).

Now Operator C, seeing that they were probably next to lose their route to Operator A, went to their 2 pilots and asked for a $4 pay cut in order to keep their route and even take over the more routes. This also had the added benefits of quicker upgrades and shiny new planes. The pilots voted yes. Sure enough, Operator C took over the route Operator A had previously stolen from Operator B. The only problem was that Operator C couldn’t find any qualified pilots to fly for their low pay rates. So, they started a flight school, where young kids on the island would pay to learn how to fly, and then in a short period of time would get a job with their airline. It was easy recruiting these kids, after all, flying was so much fun. Plus, with all the new advanced avionics, it was so easy to fly.

Operator A continued the trend, by cutting their pay in the name of growth to further undercut Operator C. They also started their own flight school to find pilots willing to fly for cheap.

The big airline loved this, after all, they were struggling enough to turn a profit and this just gave them cheaper feed.

Yes, pay was going down fast for feeder pilots on the island, but it was all in the name of getting experience and moving on to the big airlines. In fact, the lowest cost feeder airline at the time, due to expansion and labor cost cuts, had enough money to purchase larger planes, large enough planes to replace the B-700 Giant Airlines was flying to the island. They were called E-700’s. The pilots and the planes were cheaper than the B-700 cost per seat mile. So for a small pay raise, these feeder pilots could fly big, shiny, cool planes. Giant Airlines loved this, as they could get rid of some of their high paid pilots and planes and used these feeder airlines to do some of their previous flying.

Well, in the world of the big airlines, their fleets were shrinking, the feeder airlines were growing like crazy. The only big airlines that were doing well and hiring were those who had made drastic cost cuts, particularly to labor costs. One such airline was Cheap Air, they paid $10 less per hour than the other giant airlines, but they were expanding and had nice shiny big jets.

Back in the land of the feeder airlines, all that the pilots could dream about was flying for Cheap Air someday......

 

Yes, once you give up scope, you create a secondary market for your own labor that puts significant downward pressure on the compensation for your job.

If pilots at the mainline had held onto scope at any cost, they would be enjoying a way more lucrative contract than they have right now.

 

Mesabah;
Correct, because as we give up scope we are giving up our say over a larger and lager portion of the branded flying. Less pilots, less jobs, less leverage. Duh!

 

Jack Bauer doesn't get weekends off...

 

Not sure about the point being made here, but I assume it's that the pilots of Operator A should have never agreed to take the $2 pay cut which started the ball rolling--ending in disaster.

Of course, you assume that Operator D will never be formed to undercut all three. This is a free market. It happenes all the time, and our industry isn't immune.

Some examples: IBM got run out of the PC market when Dell, Gateway, HP, etc. came in and undercut their price. Dell & Gateway now face pressure from Acer, eMachines, et al. Honda and Toyota undercut GM/Ford/Chrysler in the 70s with a better product at a lower price. The UAW held tough on their pay and benefits, driving up costs. Eventually, the big 3 couldn't compete. Now Hundai and Kia and doing the same thing to Toyota and Honda. Sears was once the worlds largest retailer--by far. It was devistated by competition Walmart/KMart/Home Depot/Lowes/etc. Geico and Progressive are giving Allstate a hard time.

You get the idea. Compaies exist to make money for the owners. As hard as it is to swallow, they do not exist to provide pay and benefits to employees. That is, arguably, the best way to make money for the owners, but it is only a means to the ultimate end. There is a fine line between protecting your job/pay/benefits and comitting "sucicide" by making your company uncompetitive--ultimately going out of business.

 

Yes, but he only works one day (24hrs) per year!

 

Unfortunately, the truth has been spoken. YES, there are exceptions of fine, long-standing companies that also take care of their people, but CJ hit the nail with a sledge hammer.

 

Shack.....

 

But those guys at Giant sure got great contracts in the late 90's didnt they. Should have been watching the back door instead.

 

Now, this isn't necessarily meant for you unless it applies, but, major carrier scope give away began in a much different economic time and have been expanded by 9-11 and BK.

Shame on them for not having the foresight to see where it was heading eventually, and shame on you, or anyone else that would accept a job without promise flying for 20 an hour for any RJ outfit.

Your willingness to do so only makes the mis-steps of those at the legacy carriers evolve into the continuing decline of the profession and continued outsourcing.

Take a look at UA/AERLingus and see that mgmt want the next level towards a virtual airline with the lowest bidder winning the flying.

Don't work for peanuts. The level of responsibility express carriers have dictates equal compensation.

I guess I'm saying, you have to be willing to pursue other avenues in your life other than the airlines. I did because the future is limited currently and going to get worse until enough folks grow a pair and walk away.

I did taking a voluntary furlough from UA.

Will you?

Lee