Free market capitalism EXISTS because of the work and efforts of labor. In order for it to survive and thrive, it must pay employees wages and benefits that are an incentive for the employee to WANT to work more, harder or with greater efficiency with the goal being a higher standard of living.

The fallacy of so called free market capitalists is that they can ratchet down wages and benefits, denigrate working conditions and the like to increase market share and profit. While the idea works initially, in the long run it creates a demoralized workforce that works inefficiently and cares less about the quality of the product. The loss of quality of life also means less disposable income to contribute to the economic revenue stream.

The captalist, then sensing failure, seeks to improve the balance sheet by further cutting wages and benefits...and then is forced to shrink his economic model and business to survive...the " shrink to profitability" model.

Which has never worked. Pure free market capitalism is not a bad concept on paper. But add in human greed from management, and disciples who parrot the basic theory learned in college without the real world experience and you have the mess we have today.

These are the same theorists whom, upon finding their job downsized, or paychecks reduced, scream like stuck pigs about the injustices heaped upon them. The true believers stand up in advance and willingly give up their pay and benefits...of their own accord.

Any takers???

 

CRJ-50 FO minimum wage: $60,536 AUD

CRJ-50 CA minimum wage: $92,733 AUD

Now to be fair, the exchange rate is 1USD to 1.2667AUD, so:

CRJ-50 FO minimum wage: $47,797 USD

CRJ-50 CA minimum wage: $73,251 USD

Sounds like I need to get out of this country.... Maybe I am just different than most, but I support a pilot minimum wage as spelled out by the government. Perhaps something along the lines of what is spelled out in the pdf posted for Australian pilots.

 

i think you forgot to add "outside of the airline industry"

 

This is incredibly relevant and humorous observation.

 

How about not the government mandating this fee, but airline companies charging this fee and advertising the competence of their crew?

 

yeah........but at the same time it is not an issue of money at the regional level.

Most regionals have expanded their operation using tons of money in late years.

RAH has so much cash they are now even buying Frontier.

Skywest has almost 700 million cash in the bank but these companies claim they cannot pay the junior pilots higher salaries.

The money for higher salaries is already there.

It is the Regionals defending that they want to compete by being the cheapest operator (but making tons of money like RAH & SKYW) that claims they cannot pay more in salaries. BS!
If they make tons of money and are not willing to pay fair salaries to junior pilots then the goverment has to put a stop to it.

Pilot are forced to take these slavery jobs if the want to continue their career as that is for most the only way of getting the jet PIC needed to be able to move on. The regionals knows it and abuse it.

 

Exactly!

There is a number of jobs that do not play by the "free capitalism" or "free market" and should not. Pilots should be one of them. Pilot salary should not be like fuel cost that goes down and up as any traded instrument.

Pilot salaries should be a cost that can only be increased. Min salaries has to be regulated by the goverment as the companies refuse to pay fair salaries to junior pilots.

to say that demand & S. has to govern the pilot salary in a free market is bs.

Have you ever seen the doctors salary go down because suddenly there are more doctors than needed?

There has been many situation like that in different countries but never has the salary gone down for them.

I can give many more examples.

 

An airline is run by many different groups of people besides pilots. If the pilots get a pay raise then the flight attendants, mechanics, office people, rampers, gate agents and everyone else will also have their hands out. Then the aircraft leasing companies will get wise and upon time to renegotiate the rates then they too will be holding out for more money.

A simple $10 fare increase will rapidly become $100. Customers are barely holding on as it is.

Skyhigh

 

Pilots cannot be compared to FA, mecs, office people, rampers or gate agents but we do know that many of these are making the same or more than Junior pilots.

We are not talking about increasing the salaries for all pilots. Just for the junior pilots and that up to a fair level. The senior pilots has to stop with the attitude "If you raise for the junior pilots we want a raise". That is not going to work. The problem is the unfair low salaries for junior pilots and not the salaries for senior pilots.

You can tell any ramper, FA or gate agent what a Junior Pilot makes and ask them if they think its fair?

FA, rampers and gate agents would dream of being a pilot themselves but many would not believe junior pilots are paid that low and would accept without any problems pilots being paid much more than them.


That pax are barely holding on is bs. They are paying the same price for tickets than 1978. Nothing has gone down so much in the last 30 years as airline tickets. What use to be a luxury product can now be used by any trailer trash as if it was a bus. That is how cheap it is.
You can go to the Bahamas from FLL for $59

To say that people cannot afford more is funny. At the same time they can afford a 100% increase in gas cost for the cars or a 100% insurance home cost for their home like we got here in south Florida.

That airline ticket price has to be low is a myth that has been and is the destruction of the industry. Instead of selling quality to quality people the idea has gone to the other extrem and we are now selling volume to anybody as it is cheaper to fly than drive, take a bus, train or taxi.

People just find it funny that it is so cheap to fly.

If you cannot afford to pay what its right for flying (should be more than driving or taking a bus) then you should not fly.

The idea that everyone has to be able to afford flying is absurd and kind of an Idea from the former Sovjet Union. In a capitalist country a quality product is normally sold to those than can afford it. Why is it that airline tickets are sold to anybody as anybody can afford them?

Go to an airport and take a look at the pax. You will see that even Joe from the trailer park is flying.

The airlines put some fees on when the fuel went to the roof. Did that affect the amount flying? No. The decline in numbers are due to the economi of the country that generates less movement of people that needs to travel due to less work etc but has nothing to do with increased cost for flying.

 

Why?

Doesn't sound like it could be any worse for you, could it?

You might be surprised to know that in any profession for which there is a Federal employee doing the same type/class of work, there ALREADY is a standard wage.... it's the Federal Prevailing Wage Law and has been around for decades. It just doesn't apply to the private sector.

You finally made a statement that made sense. It was a mistake to Deregulate the airline corporations, while still regulating their unions. It tipped the scales to an unfair advantage.