This business model would most definitely work in the short term i think. However, when you run into complete stagnation like you have now, you'll find yourself in a horrible labor dispute and a looming strike. Pilots will deal with low top end pay if there is somewhere to go. As soon as that door is closed, they'll fight like crazy to improve their current position. It can be seen at different regionals many times over.

 

I just don't see why we pay 3rd year captains differently than a 20 year one. The quality of pilots are essentially the same. Lower the top wage and raise the bottom I say.
The senior pilots already get their choice of vacations/trips/holidays etc.

And in my perfect world all airlines would have the same pay for a particular airplane.
Crj200 at Mesa/skyway/blah blah should all be equal.
Management should be able to remove labor from the equation.

 

Scrap the hourly wages, go with a flat rate per flight.

 

One dollar for FO, Two dollars for Capt, per passenger flown, all regional airlines across the board. 15 on/15 off. Mainline, three dollars for FO, four dollars for captain. 15 on/15 off

50 seat Regional - 5 or 6 legs a day=
FO - $250-$300 a day ($45-$54k per year)
Capt - $500-$600 a day ($90-$108k per year)

767 -400ER mainline (178 pax)- 2 legs per day =
FO - $1068 a day ($192k a year)
Capt - $1424 a day ($256k per year)

Good quality of life, with only 15 days on + pretty good pay. Add it to the price of a ticket, and the passengers would never notice it.

 

How about a regional that is a mandatory 5-year employment contract. After 5 years you are no longer employed by the airline and must leave. If you leave early you must pay $X to cover your training bond. All compensation is paid at a flat salary, doesnt matter how much or how little you fly.

Year 1, you are paid $40k, and sit right seat
Year 2, you are paid $45k, and sit right seat
Year 3, you are paid $55k, and spend half the year in the right seat/half year left
Year 4, $65k left seat
Year 5, $75k, left seat

This would guarantee movement, and all but guarantee you will have 1000 PIC turbine at the end of 5years. At that point you could go where ever you wanted without having to worry about a quick upgrade in hopes of building PIC time. The people who are most eager to fly are those newhires trying to get 1000 SIC turbine, and the newly upgraded CAs trying to get 1000hrs PIC turbine. This would benefit both the pilots and the company because everyone would want to be productive and fly as much as possible so they can get their hours.

 

Why not a salary? Seems simple enough (I've worked as an airline pilot on salary).

Days off, vacation, trips on seniority.

To the original post, I would want to blow out the pilots after 2 or 3 years, and get some new, cheap, eager beavers, with plenty of mommy and daddy's money to "invest".

I wouldn't care whether they can, or will, get hired at a major airline. Not my problem.

I'd have them sign a three year contract, with a HUGE termination clause. You could actually make money on pilots who would jump ship before the end of their contract, getting either flying for free, or the equivalent of "pay to play".

Like virtually any flying job that becomes available, those seats don't and won't get cold !!!

FO's would be strictly pay to play, and I'd expect to terminate 75-95% in training. The beauty of pay2play is that the airline can make huge profits off most folks who will never sit in an airliner. Some cream will rise to the top, and for those, we have a carrot.

If qualified, you become a direct entry captain, and I will pay a salary that far exceeds anything else in the USA for a new hire, but never gets to anything above about typical 5 year pay in the industry. Therefore, the airline will never have high priced pilot labor.

FO's are "guaranteed" a captain job in 18 months, if qualified, to expect to get their 1000-1500 PIC in the next 18 months. These are the things pilots drool over, and I'd want to "give it to them". Because you weren't qualified as a captain at new hire, your pay will remain the same for the captain job, per your contract. You can always quit, and my airline would encourage it, since you won't be around in 3 years anyway, should you leave in 2 years, I make money. Win, win for me.

I guarantee that virtually NOBODY would turn down that captain PIC opportunity, even though there's no additional pay. Pilots who fail the PIC training are fired, and forced to pay their termination bond.

The cadre of pilots who end the 3 year contract MAY be offered a renewed three year contract or a training job that pays some HUGE (compared to the industry) salary for another 3 years terms. Same termination clauses.

Because the number or training pilots is small compared to the line pilots, the overall cost to the airline is relatively small.

I don't know how any potential union might affect the 3 year contracts, so assume that any future union would mean an alter ego airline in the waiting at all times (on paper, to be launched upon serious threat to the airline).

Edit: purging pilots every 3 years should all but guarantee no union.

Summary:

Even though the pilots will work to the maximum duty limits allowed, and the chance of a PRIA training failure is very high, and the job only lasts three years, they will be "paying their dues", getting almost guaranteed PIC turbine time.

The airline is primarily geared toward bringing in LARGE numbers of unwashed masses to filter out a few of them to hire, all of which are paying for the privilege. This should be an overall profit center for the airline, as opposed to the burden and expense of recruiting rated pilots.

When pay2play gets difficult to find enough suckers, and I can't find qualified captains off the street, I hire other company's FO's for direct hire captain. Ya, they'll JUMP at that. Pay them FO pay, but they get that magic PIC turbine time. Same 3 year contract with termination clauses.

I can run captain/captain crews, since I'm not paying that much anyway. Actually, I'd prefer that everybody was captain qualified and current, just like business jet flying. I won't have to have as much reserve since most pilots can do either job.

 

Woo Hoo!!! Both thinking the same stuff at the same time.

Let me add that I don't have ANY new ideas in my post. Ever single thing is used somewhere in the world. I'm just putting it all together.

 

Haha! Now we just need some poor suckers to fund our operation and we can be Airline Tycoons!

 

Oh, we don't want poor ones.... that might cost us money.

Just stroll on to the campus of ERAU, UND, et al; you'll find them!

Actually, you might sell it as "real experience in lieu of boring school" and get some that way. Or, just "delay" school, do this for 3 years, and then finish school. Issue big sun glasses and pilot jackets to anybody who signs up.

Free iPods, too.

 

Will there be a uniform allowance and "Top Gun" stickers as well. What about backpacks, will you allow backpacks? I'll need special earbuds for my Ipod, and can I put extra APPS on it so when I'm in cruise I can do something fun? Also, on each paycheck can you reduce 25 dollars per month and send a 25 dollar ITUNES card?