Copperhed51

I couldn't disagree with this more. The government preventing us from having any leverage (striking) through the RLA is what maintains low wages. Give this only bit of leverage back to the pilots and you'll see pay increase in no time...especially if a strike could be coordinated between different pilot groups. Just because there are resumes on the desks doesn't mean those pilots are going to be trained and ready to go in enough time to save a company during a pilot strike.

Colnago

Precisely. It really comes down to that.

Blueskies21

At the very least they could end this whole "work under the status quo" for 4-5 years bull.... clearly that's a benefit to the company delay a contract for 4-5 years and generally there's no boost in compensation until it's finalized... aka each year inflation deals you a decreasing paycheck.... every contract needs to have an automatic raise in each year that would at least mitigate feet dragging to achieve cost savings, or maybe the cooling off period could automatically start with the ammendable date...

iPilot

Well if the last hiring spree was any indication, people with ATP qualifications simply weren't applying to regionals. If that's the new minimum the regionals will be forced to attract the talent any means necessary. Think of all the folks working part 135 that could apply, or folks at other regionals. Just like any other business out there, airlines will have to compete to get qualified folks to work for them. That means bringing pay up to something that people would actually want to work for.

A good example is military guys. Back in the day they'd retire from the military to become airline pilots. Now, nobody in their right mind would go to even a major now after a career in the military. Most go now to the corporate world where pay is in line with their expectations. These are the people that airlines will need and should try to attract to fill those positions. Not 250 hour zero-to-heros. Same goes for folks that flew 135 freight, corporate, or basically any type of professional flying prior to flying 121.

BoilerUP

You're not a military or a corporate pilot, are you?

iPilot

Well ok poor examples. But anyway the point is very well qualified pilots are not going to the regionals and even some majors because of the low pay. If the airlines are required to hire higher time individuals they'll have to pay well enough to convince these types of pilots to work for them instead of some private jet outfit. Currently the regionals can just take people who have such low time they can't get hired anywhere else, so they can pay accordingly.

SilkySmooth

I disagree. It's all about supply and demand. If the feds raise the bar (reduce supply) the demand for qualified individuals will correspondingly increase. When the demand increases enough, individuals will receive multiple job offers and the best companies (pay, rules, etc.) will win out. This will leave the Colgans of the world no choice but to compete or die. They will no longer be able to compete just by lowering minimums.

SilkySmooth

Mainline carriers (through their pilot's scope giveaways) have figured out that having seven different contract carriers will effectively shield them from any strike.

You really are a dreamer. Most pilots are capitalistic libertarians. Keep dreaming

FlyJSH

That would be flying struck work. As a union member, you cannot be forced to fly struck work.

SrfNFly227

As I understand it, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, only flying that was being done by the striking pilots would be struck work. This means that if Delta operates 7 flights from DTW-ORF and each is by a different company, 6 of those flights would continue to operate after 1 company goes on strike. Those 6 routes are not "struck" work.