I am wondering how the whole system of regional pay works.

Let's say my monthly guarantee is 70 hours, assuming I don't break that number, I still get paid that amount regardless, right?

Let's say I do break guarantee, how is the pay determined?
What is duty rig?
Cancellation pay?
Deadhead pay?
Block or better?

I'm guessing those four items only apply if you break guarantee?

Thanks!!!

 

Guarantee is guaranteed.

Duty Rig : example 2:1
2 hours of duty : 1 hour pay
16 hours of duty = 8 hours pay etc...

Trip Rig :is also important
Divide Time away from Base TAFB by a divisor
ie. 4 day trip with 80 hrs TAFB
Trip rig 3.5
80 / 3.5 = 22.85


Cancellation Pay:
You are paid even if part or in cases all of your trip is cancelled. This depends on the contract.

Deadhead Pay:
If its mentioned it usually means you are getting 1/2 pay or 3/4 pay for riding in the back(not flying).

Block or better:
CLE-MSP Block 2.0 hours scheduled
CLE-MSP Actually took 2.5 hours. You get the better of the two.
What you want is block or better leg by leg. This way if your under block on a leg you don't lose any previous overs you made on an earlier leg.

And the last question is it depends on the contract. Some of the best provisions of a contract apply to lineholders only. When bargaining a contract reserves are usually thrown under the bus first to get gains in other areas.

Good luck

 

Monthly guarantee is typically 75 hours but yes, you will get paid the 75 hours even if you are only scheduled to fly 2 hours. Hence the term guarantee.

You break guarantee when you pay credit for the month goes over 75 hours (your monthly guarantee). Your pay credit is determined by things such as duty rigs, etc.

Cancellation pay is where you get paid whether the flight goes or not. So if there is bad weather and the flight cancels, you get paid. As of right now, I believe only RAH and Mesa don't have leg by leg cancellation pay. Cancellation pay is huge because you can go to work for 14 hours and only get paid per diem for your day of sitting around the airport. That's right, you won't even make minimum wage. Still not sure how RAH gets away with it.

Deadheading is when you are riding in the back to be put in a position for a flight or being returned to your base at the completion of a trip. Most places do not pay you 100% pay for this time. You will typically only be paid 50-75% of your actual time deadheading. A few good companies actually compensate you for your time and pay 100% like they should.

Duty rig basically guarantees you a certain amount of pay for a certain amount of time on duty. So say you have a duty day of 14 hours but only fly 5 hours, with a 2:1 duty rig, you would get paid 7 hours instead of just 5. A lot of places have a minimum day pay and a trip rig as well. So just giving up a day off you will get a minimum of say 4 hours even if you only fly 2 hours. Trip rig is based on Time Away from Base (TAFB) and is designed to basically force the company to use you efficiently and give you more time off with higher pay. If the ratio is 2.5:1 and you have a TAFB of 65 hours, you would get paid a minimum of 26 hours.

Block or better can be either by the leg, day, or trip. By the leg is really the only one worth while. So every flight is scheduled to be a certain length of time based on aircraft performance, weather, and past history. Say a flight from DCA-MSP is credited at 2.5 hours but it takes you 2.1 hours to get there, you get paid 2.5 hours still. If it takes you 3.0 hours you get paid the 3.0.

With block or better by-the-leg, say you are flying 3 flights for the day worth 2.0 hours each making your day worth 6 hours. You under block the first flight by 15 minutes, over block the next one by an hour and under block the last by 30 minutes, you will be paid 7.0 hours. With by-the-day, you will get paid for 6 hours 15 minutes. With by-the-trip, you will pretty much lose all your overage pay because you will end up underblocking on a good portion of your trip. This means that you aren't being properly compensated for the time you sat for an hour on the ground in LGA. Alot of times, it will mean the difference of getting paid 26 hours for a 4 day versus getting paid 20 hours which adds up a lot in a year.

Also, look out for the definition of block time because some places like Piedmont only start getting paid once the aircraft moves 50 feet after door closure. A lot of times you will get placed on gate hold meaning you can't move 50 feet but have the door closed with passengers you are responsible for up to 2 hours not getting paid. This is while the Expressjet pilot next to you is getting paid.

 

I get food stamps thats all you need to know about regional pay..

 

I made 40k this year as a 2nd year FO on a turboprop. After first year pay it's not that bad. Maybe not what we deserve but not food stamps bad.

 

Who are you with? Or is that not in good taste to ask? Either way, just curious since I'd like to stick with props whether it's regional flying or other.

 

That's got to be the first time I've seen someone say they prefer to find a job flying props than a jet

 

Hey guys,

Can anyone tell me where I could find the pay scale for commuters?

Thanks

 

What can I say, I've spent the last 10 years flying C-130s...just miss that sound

 

I believe he was on the EMB-120 @ SkyWest...