PDT & EDV have it going on. You made a great choice going to PDT based on the long-term plan, no doubt. We agree that EDV did it right by paying ALL pilots on property. I hope this continues as we move forward to a higher pay rate without the bonus.

It's just a travesty that pilots have to fight so damn hard to achieve a livable wage. It's not like that in most other industries. Experience matters most places, just not here. Then again, no one is quite as sexy as a pilot, so we have THAT going for us!!

 

Well we as pilots did it to ourselves. I'm not speaking of everyone. When the supply of pilots was plentiful and people were taking skit pay for quick upgrades, new shiny 175's, or concessions for promised growth made it impossible for the other regionals to demand more and prosper. Now that the majors are trying to secure future pilot feed they're upping the anti. It'll be interesting to see how long some regionals will be able to hang on.

 

Ante. But I feel ya. It's a whole new world, 121 these days.

 

That's because ALPA continues to bend over regional pilots on a daily basis. It's nice to have some representation, but ALPA regional is a huge failure.

 

ALPA regional. No no no. This is segregationist behavior. They are not working for us. ALPA protects the high paid senior mainline FOs and captains QoL and $$$. Separate but equal. Heard those phrases before? If the pilot pool were unified, the top would come down, and the bottom would go up.....

 

And you've formed this opinion from your dealings with ALPA reps, experience on the line, or...?

 

Fact : I have never dealt with an ALPA union rep, or had any experience on the line

My musings are from empirical observation. This is a comment on the ALPA negotiated system as it is today, what it has evolved to. Kind of hard to see it otherwise.

 

The reason the regionals get paid so bad is first there are pilots that are willing to work at bottom feeder regionals. If they couldn't hire anyone they would have to raise pay. Second is the big three trying to get the cheapest labor they can and being greedy and extending "regional" flying, now over 40% of the big 3's product is delivered by regional pilots getting paid 30% of what the major pilots make.



With this huge discrepancy in pay it has caused pilots now to move to intermediate companies like the ULCC's which are now cutting into the big 3's market share and they are scrambling to find a way to compete. They kind of shot themselves in the foot on that one. Who knows how much market share the ULCC's will ultimately get or if it happens overseas to the likes of NAI and possibly others. Nobody thought Southwest would capture much market share and looked how that turned out. Now it's Cheap gas, airplane orders, pilots willing to work for less pay (more than their regional) and the sky is the limit.

 

1500 hours cost minimally $100/hr plus instructor pay, multi and incidentals means approx $200,000. The CFI may not be paying that, but his 10 students are. Pyramid scheme alert!!

Entry level making 20K living on food stamps may have worked when airlines hired placeholder FOs and let them build time in training seat - but no más
Or when Joe taxpayer was paying mega billions to train jet jockeys doing touch n gos in a C5A Galaxy - no más

Now with $200K going into the making of an ATP - how did anyone ever think paying $20K would sustain. Majors overpaying their pilots (harkening back to regulated flying $1400 coach NYC-LAX) and the pilots wanting to maintain that ancient pay/QoL model is what led us here. The 1500 ATP rule is the tide that went out and exposed those without swimsuits.

By 2018, entry level ATP qualified pilots will be getting $100K. You heard it here first boys n girls
And get ready for airlines getting involved with 2-300 hour pilots. It's starting already. Same model as before - airlines pay for the training from 200 hours onwards

 

Good post! I sure hope we see that. The difference in pay is retarded! Just because you decide to stay at the regional level doesn't mean you should earn 90k a year after 20 years of service. Yes...we should all move on to the majors , but some of us have tried and haven't been successful. Should we be penalized for that? Last time I checked, we still wake up, put the untiform on, and fly around passengers safely. For many years I might add.