Regional First Officer Pay
 

CHICAGO— The regional (or Fee for Departure) segment of the airline industry is comprised of over 25 airlines, operating over 50% of all departures in the USA, and flying into the world’s most complex airspace, and largest (and sometimes smallest) airports, in some of the most challenging weather conditions on the globe.

This means that, at any given time, you are more likely to be flying on a regional airline than the mainline airline through which you’ve purchased your ticket. In fact, it was not until just recently that the airlines were required to tell you the name of the regional airline on which you are actually flying. Most people think that if they buy their ticket through United.com, for example, they will be flying on a United airplane, with United pilots, and United service. Many times, however, this is simply not the case.

You may recall the fatal crash in Buffalo, NY in February of 2009. Yesterday was the 5 year anniversary of this crash. It was Continental Connection flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air. Many friends and family members of those who died in that crash had never heard of Colgan. They were wondering why their loved ones were flying on Colgan when they thought they were flying on Continental. Much attention was focused on fatigue, and flying proficiency (rightly so), but there wasn’t much talk about pilot compensation. At the time of the crash, the First Officer earned about $20k/year. For her flight from Newark to Buffalo, she would have been paid about $30-$40. Total. For the entire flight.

Little has changed up to now unfortunately. Regional airplanes are painted in mainline colors, your flight is coded as a mainline flight, ticket agents, gate agents, and ground workers might all be employees of the mainline. But once you cross the threshold and board that regional jet, or turboprop, you can often hear passengers’ exclamations of how much smaller the airplane is than they’d expected. The trend now, however, is to replace these smaller regional jets with larger, more sophisticated aircraft, carrying many more passengers. Instead of receiving raises, pilots are offered only concessions. Take it or leave it. Leave it, and we’ll place the aircraft at a cheaper airline and shut you down. This is the reality of regional airlines and its dangerous downward spiraling of pilot compensation at a time of record profits, as well as a scarcity of qualified pilots. We believe this is a recipe for disaster waiting to happen.

We are: highly technically skilled, highly trained, highly competent, professional airline pilots operating some of the most complex equipment in and out of the busiest airports and airspace in the world, during all types of meteorological conditions.

But compared to our mainline peers, we are grossly undercompensated.

And chances are, we will be piloting your next flight.
The starting salary at a regional airline for First Officers (Co-Pilots) at one of the largest regional airlines is $23,256/yr. Broken down hourly, that’s a mere $12/hr, based on a 40-hour workweek.

You might hear the media and airline managements proclaim that we make a great hourly wage, but that’s entirely misleading. While away from home more often than at most full-time careers, airline pilots don’t get paid anywhere near 40 hours of pay a week.

Preflighting, flight planning, weather data gathering and interpreting, boarding, deplaning, configuring the cockpit before departure, maintenance delays, weather delays, inbound aircraft arrival delays, “sit” time between flights, and any other time that the door is not closed with the parking brake released is ALL UNPAID.

Imagine only being paid at your job for performing specific tasks, while some of the most important parts of your work go unpaid. That is how airline pilot pay structure is set up.

Let’s do some quick math. Consider this: You’re flying from Chicago to (insert any smaller city within about a 1-2 hour range) let’s say Cleveland, Ohio. You purchased your ticket on AA.com and paid $150 for your one-way flight. You arrive at the airport and head to the American Airlines terminal. You get to your gate, and see AA flight 3575 to CLE will be an hour-long full flight. You board the airplane, and find your seat on the 50-seat Embraer painted in American Eagle colors. You hit some turbulence en route as the pilots navigate around some winter storms. You are confident in your pilots’ ability to get you safely to your destination. As a professional airline pilot, your first officer is more than capable of completing the flight safely. But for his troubles, for this example flight, he will earn exactly $25.84, about $0.50 - yes that is fifty cents - per ticket. From your $150 ticket, a mere half a dollar will have gone to pay your First Officer. Chances are, you tipped your shuttle van driver more than your pilot made from your ticket.

In most industries, one can take their skill-set with them to another company or employer. Skills and experience do not lose value over time. If anything, their value increases.

But not at the airlines. A mainline Captain with 30 years of experience and tens of thousands of flight hours, who leaves for another airline, will make the exact same pay as a new-hire First Officer with the minimum qualifications. If Sully Sullenberger decided to come out of retirement tomorrow and fly for American Airlines, he would earn roughly $39,000 his first year, regardless of his very famous experience.


BUT WHY DO THEY PAY SO LITTLE?

The regional airline industry has experienced tremendous growth, as mainline airlines have essentially outsourced shorter flights to smaller cities to these traditionally entry-level regionals. While this may have worked early on, 9/11 changed everything. Whereas before pilots expected to spend only a few years at the regional level, able to move on quickly to mainline airlines, the post-9/11 industry experienced a period of extreme pilot career stagnation, resulting in an extended era of low wages, and inability to move on to the mainlines.

In short, the regional model is broken. The regionals are unsustainable, and everyone in the industry knows it. But instead of effectively managing their industry by offering competitive wages to attract new-hire pilots to staff the regionals, airline managements have decided to lower labor costs to the point of near-poverty level wages. This has only exacerbated the glooming pilot shortage.

To answer the question though, they pay so little because they can. As was previously mentioned, pilots cannot simply switch airlines if a competitor offers a better future. On the regional level, there are over 25 regional airlines providing passenger feed for the mainlines.

Mainline executives demand regional pilots agree to concessions, or the feed they provide will be awarded to the next lowest bidder, and your airline will be shut down.

This, in combination with the Railway Labor Act’s extreme restrictions on the ability for pilots to strike, has culminated into what we are seeing today: the erosion of the pilot profession, as airline executives realize record profits. We feel that near-poverty level wages has an adverse effect on safety, and that corporate greed will unfortunately be to blame for the next great air disaster.

Michael Schneider

Spot on!!! I love the point about the Colgan crash. Maybe if she was making 40k a year she'd have a more comfortable lifestyle and wouldn't have to commute all the way from the west coast (if I remember correctly) and hence wouldn't be as tired and could have realized the captain was doing the exact opposite of correcting the problem. Not for a second did the faa think that money had a factor in the crash, it surely must have been the flight hours she had and the failed check rides the captain had. Maybe she was too tired to do anything even close to cockpit resource management. Also would the maximum flight hours need to be so low if pilots started off at 40k+ at the regionals? I say no, I think it's the lifestyle pilots are forced to live making 20-25k per.

Great write up. Unfortunately the passengers care about how cheap their ticket is, they will just complain about the size of the plane once they step on board.

No one forces a pilot to fly for crap wages...all of us have chosen to do it.

You want better wages, quit working for crap ones. You will either force management into paying them or have them close shop. Ticket prices will go up to. So, then it is up to the consumer to decide.

ALPA should spend some of its millions on educating the public instead of harassing management.

It isn't the passengers fault. Your industry and the management of that industry love their profits. The passengers are looking for a good deal - just like consumers do in every other industry or service. You do it too when you shop and doubtfully give a second thought about it.

The problem is career expectations. Most don't mind 20-30k for a year if the expectation is in 5-7 years moving to a major/legacy. The problem is for many, the goalposts moved down the field after all the time, effort, and money was sunk into this career. Now that expectations have shifted, fewer people are entering the industry.

No question fewer are entering the industry. Harder to talk mom and dad into paying 60k+ for flight training as well as another ridiculous sum of money for a bachelors if they want to make the legacy majors. It just doesn't make financial sense,at least for middle class families.

If you go into with realistic expectations, then you will not be disappointed.

And lets quit blaming management for pay. If pilots would quit working for them, they have two options; pay more or fold. Pilots are their own worst enemies but are so quick to blame management.

How else does one go to the majors? Flight instruct, freight dawg, fly corporate, etc. until the majors call? There are shady operators at all of those mentioned sub sets of aviation, too.

great hermann !

Why is it the passengers responsibility to care about pilot wages when there are pilots applying for these jobs and others willing to take concessions to fly them?

Seriously, there are pilots voting to take less money in order to take airplanes away from fellow union pilots. Why should a passenger care when pilots are willing canabilise eachother?

Here is the universal excuse for crappy wages.

I think that's a fair question. Please, if we all boycott the regionals, what is the way all of us become qualified for a job in the majors?

If everyone (like seriously, everyone) boycotts the regionals, the majors would have to pick up the flying and lower their qualifications.

That will obviously never happen though.

Yes, this. By trying to "stick it to the regionals" all you find is that you are behind (practcally) everyone else who went to the regionals ASAP- including the children of mainline pilots. Can someone be choosy about a particular company? Sure! But if you are implying any pilot just starts their first, second or even third job, post commercial check ride making fair wages, I have not seen this.

Its beginning to happen now in the form of regionals not being able to hire.

I flew part 135 and part 91 biz jets. its a way. unfortunately there are not enough of those jobs for everyone to avoid the regionals.

I may be "behind" those that went to the regionals but I'm out of debt and have a decent amount of money in an IRA. If neither a regional pilot or me make it to the majors I'd say I'm pretty far ahead. The biggest problem with the regionals is how everyone views it as a stepping stone. Its a job. You work hard, study hard, and are a highly trained professional. You deserve to be compensated as such.

+1

......................

Also...those pay rates, are voted in by pilots, not forced down their throats by management. Do not like the rates, vote no.

(This is assuming you are a union shop)

I'm currently a regional pilot with three different retirement accounts, and bought a house back when I was a CFI. I get the impression that regional pilots are viewed as all having massive debt with SJS. Some are, some aren't. Hard days off, leave work at work, Guard/Reserve friendly, not worrying about ticking off the the boss man, the ability to bid 15 plus days off? These are good things that many other jobs do not offer. Of course pay needs to be fixed, or the flying needs to go back to mainline. We all know that.

There are a lot of flying jobs that shouldn't be at stepping stone pay, but unfortunately there are many. Everyone knows who the good employers are now, especially with the advent of the internet. All those places have reams of résumés from highly qualified pilots. Its becoming cliche to put down the regionals as if other segments of aviation aren't just as deadbeat, if not worse! Most commonly I hear how corporate is always hands down better, but that is false. There are lots of dead beat corpoarte gigs. Its also getting super old listening to the old blame game about why flying isn't the profession it should be. It is ALWAYS someone else's fault. Always!

So why come to APC? To communicate and coordinate to fight back and make things better. We steer newbies away from deadbeat jobs and hopefully those jobs change or die.

I get what you are saying buuuut....

I thought one of the biggest beefs that the Colgan crash families had was that they were under the impression they bought tickets on Continental. So if the public is aware of what is really going on--aware of the whipsaw at the regional level, they can put pressure on management. Today's consumer has such an abundance of information and so readily available. We really do vote with our wallets. Quality costs money, and I think the flying public ought to press for more uniformity between mainline and regional flying. When customers speak, management listens.

Regional FO pay is awesome. Go work somewhere where you will spend the least amount of time swinging gear. Watching 3-4 year GoJet pilots get hired at American Airlines is mind blowing. Do the math.

This is more having to deal with a post I made in another thread about tool pilots who tell passengers they fly for their mainline partner or wear lanyards with the Legacy carriers name. They will say "Its because nobody has heard of XXXX regional airline," I say its because you are posing to be something youre not. Want passengers to realize the difference between regional and mainline pilots/aircraft/wages? Stop acting like they are one in the same. Management spends a lot of money to make the experience between traveling on a regional to a mainline carrier to be seamless, its to fool the passengers. Pilots who who pose as their mainline carriers only exacerbate the issue.

And I dont think any passengers really care about the trouble of the regional pilot. They will say "oh, thats unfair." But in the end they want cheap fares. Air travel is super safe on any aircraft so it is not like they are "gambling" with their life if they fly a regional vs a mainline carrier. Many times they dont even have a chance and will have to fly the regional to certain markets. Do you really think anyone would choose to drive instead of flying a regional airline? No way.

This isnt the fight for the public to take up. It is a fight for the regional pilots to wage themselves. Not ALPA, not mainline, not passengers. As long as pilots are voting "YES!" to concessions to fly more aircraft, nothing can be helped. Eagle and XJT sacked up and said "NO!" and they were rewarded with the threat of closure and losing aircraft. Everyone has to say "NO!"

Regional FO pay is awful.

I apologize for the typo.

Or it could be that they are threatened with disciplinary action by their chief pilots if they don't wear the stuipid things.

I always use my airlines name when I make PA announcements, not the partner's. Maybe I'll get called on it someday.

Likewise. Unfortunately the passengers don't pay attention to those anyhow.. And if they do care to listen, they certainly do not care who's driving the thing. It's clearly painted on the side of the airplane, right?

Curious, what airline requires their pilots to wear a specific lanyard for their mainline partner? Im not talking about the "Delta Connection" ones. Im talking about regional pilots who wear "Delta" or "United" lanyards.

And if the company makes you use "Delta Connection" or something in the PA, thats the blurred line I was referring to what they are creating. I would not expect a pilot to say "No, im not going to adhere to the company's requirements for PAs" if they have to say a specific thing. Im talking about those who pretend to be a mainline/legacy pilot when dealing with passengers/public.

Well... If you just must know,

The US Airways company lanyards are the only approved lanyards for Piedmont, PSA, and US Airways employees to wear. This came about because of the yellow On Board USAPA lanyards.

I'm not really sure why you are all hung up on lanyards though. Do you get upset when someone wears a Big 10 university or NFL lanyard and the person doesn't work there?

You missed the entire point. Congrats. Yeah, because Big 10 lanyards is an issue with Regional pay. :rolleyes:

So is wearing a United Airlines lanyard when you work at Commutair?

Who cares.

Keep voting in those concessions, buddy! Im sure you will find yourself in the left seat of one of those shiny new RJs soon enough. Heck, for less money, you can maybe get there even quicker!

The point of this original post is the frightful first year FO pay. There have been many changes in the industry since the Colgan crash with one exception. FO PAY!!! I ask any of you who have worked for their wages of 16.24 to 24 dollars per flight hour and never complained during that first year. The FAA can change regs and create new ones but what they can't do is make a private company change how much they pay these FO's.

The FAA can change regs and create new ones but what they can't do is make a private company change how much they pay these FO's.[/QUOTE]

Can't they? I think the by-product of the new rules (ATP, FAR 117, Age 65) is a shortage of qualified pilots willing to work for the meager pay currently offered by the majority of regionals. The consequence may be unintentional, but the new rules certainly have created a position of opportunity for pilots, especially those pilots with an ATP. IMO.

This is how greedy and abusive Regional management are.

A regional operating a CRJ 900 or a E175 with 76 seats that is paying a First Officer $37 an hour is paying him less than 50 cents per seat of what the passenger is paying. The captain is paid $1 to $1,5 per seat. The total cost for both pilots is $1,5 to $2 per seat or per each $370 dollar ticket. It must clearly be the lowest part of operating that aircraft and it is ridiculously low.

People tip the van driver to the airport more than what they pay for the pilot flying them. How in the hell can management get away with this?

Management can get away with it because we as pilots allow them by showing up to work.

Fixed it for ya.

Because when that passenger gets stuck in Flint, MI due to "pilot shortage" because the regional partner does not have a pilot to operate the flight, that passenger needs to know the reason they are going to mis-connect to attend grandmas funeral, vacation, etc...
They need to know the major airlines are gladly taking their cash to sell them a ticket, boozing profits while failing to increase the pay of pilots to properly staff the flights they have sold.

Even if you explain it to them, they wouldn't care. As long as they get the cheapest ticket, they don't care.