Airline Pilot Central Forums - Colgan seniority resignation?

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The Delta reserve guarantee is 70 hours. Most pilot actually break the guarantee for a variety of reasons including GS's, vacation, assignments, reroute pay, training pay ect.. A better overall number to use first year would be 75 hours a month. It could be a lot more but its not going to be much less. In addition to that a new hire will be getting a additional 12 percent per month in his name in retirement. That goes to 13 percent 1 Jan 2011.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyJSH (Post 808382)

okay, lets compare ....

Delta first year pay $54 per hour x 65 hours = $3510 (according to APC). Times 12 months is $42120. Divided by 52 weeks per year is $810 per week. Divided by 40 that is a bit over $20 per hour to fly an average of more than double the pax/miles. $20 buck an hour isnt bad, but really, for what it takes to get hired by Delta, is it that great?

I will agree with Cycle Pilot, in one respect: darn near any other industry will pay you a comparable salary (if not more) and you can be home every night.

No disrespect to Delta. Colgan is far from the Holy Grail, but given the choice of sitting reserve for Delta (and being subject to future furloughs) or being senior CA at Colgan and holding a decent line, I'll take being the big fish in the small pond.

..... But then I dont own a red tie, so I would not get hired anyway.

Readers should note that as a person in his 40s, the odds of me making CA at Delta are near zero.

You're really trying to compare Colgan to Delta? I'm surprising myself for even responding to your post, but here goes. I just hit third year pay at Delta and I'm making $97 an hour with about 14-15 days at home and 13% going into my retirement plan without me adding a dime. My second year pay was more than I'd ever make at Colgan. Our guarantee is actually 70 hours per month. Colgan doesn't put anything into your retirement. Who care if you don't make Captain? Even as a senior F.O., your QOL would be far better than being a Q400 Captain at Colgan. Plus, the point I was trying to make is that if you're furloughed and have a seniority number at another airline, what's the point of going to Colgan when you can pay the bills with another job and be at home? That's the point I was trying to make.

Oh, by the way, I don't own a red tie either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by n7715x (Post 808600)

FlyJSH,

I believe your analysis to be pretty flawed if based solely on money. There is a massive difference in what one has to look forward to at Delta in subsequent years, when compared to Colgan. The relationship of slightly more than double the money is valid for first year only then is substantially blown out of the water.

However, when you introduce other factors such as age, favorable basing, scheduling, etc., I see your point. It may not make sense for senior regional pilots to leave.

You are absolutely correct about the flaw in my comparison: basing a career move entirely on pay, especially first year, it not smart. Dozens of points should be considered before taking any job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cycle Pilot (Post 808607)

You're really trying to compare Colgan to Delta? I'm surprising myself for even responding to your post, but here goes. I just hit third year pay at Delta and I'm making $97 an hour with about 14-15 days at home and 13% going into my retirement plan without me adding a dime. My second year pay was more than I'd ever make at Colgan. Our guarantee is actually 70 hours per month. Colgan doesn't put anything into your retirement. Who care if you don't make Captain? Even as a senior F.O., your QOL would be far better than being a Q400 Captain at Colgan. Plus, the point I was trying to make is that if you're furloughed and have a seniority number at another airline, what's the point of going to Colgan when you can pay the bills with another job and be at home? That's the point I was trying to make.

Oh, by the way, I don't own a red tie either.

No, I wasn't comparing Colgan to Delta. I was only saying based on tonnage aka seat/miles the first year pay (that you brought up) is higher, but not multiple times larger.

Would I rather have a Delta number? Absolutely. But unless you and a couple of your coworkers want to carry in my resume, my chances of getting an interview, let alone hired, are zero. So, for the mean time, I will continue to make the best of my situation, and do what I can to push for better pay and work rules.

You asked why someone with a seniority number at another regional would consider working at Colgan. If I were on furlough from Absolutely Awesome Air and did not expect a recall for a couple years, I would be looking for another flying job. If Really Raunchy Regional had a base where I live (so I didn't need to commute, pay for a crash pad, or move), and they were hiring, I would at least take a look at them. Getting back onto a seniority list is a high priority for me. Maybe you think it is foolish, but I would rather mitigate my loss and start over than sit on my hands and hope things would turn around.

Good luck to all