Articles aren't going to do squat. There's an old story about Frank Lorenzo:

Pilot: When are you going to start paying us more?
FL: When you make me.

Regional bonuses are a start, but as long as people are taking the bonus in lieu of higher pay rates, nothing is going to change at the regional level.

 

We need $20 raise across the board instead of the bonuses.

 

We've been having this conversation since I can remember, certainly back into the late 80's..

Reality is, until the pilots at the "regionals" which were always known as the commuters when they were small, and only accounted for a minor percentage of jobs were called, realize that there is a good chance they MAY NOT go on to the mainline, they will never care enough to "Make him".. Everyone thinks their only there for a coupe of years now, so why invest the effort?

Doesn't help that mainline pilots are always willing to sell out scope for pay / work rules which over the long run erodes this power dynamic even more in favor of management.

 

If you get paid or reimbursed it isn't volunteering. It's paid labor.

 

who ever said ALPA work is paid or reimbursed? unless you're on the MEC or a member of a full-time committee it's all unpaid.

 

Most of the flying public could care less what a pilot makes, be they well compensated or at poverty level wages. All they see is the paint job on the plane, think it's a mainline carrier, and know that it is going to be a sh!ty experience with lousy customer service and a free body cavity search compliments of tsa. Ticket price is all that matters to the consumer, no one flies because they enjoy the experience, it's a means to an end best accomplished inexpensively.

I get better customer service at jiffy lube, but never stop and wonder what the guy changing the oil makes. I don't care. Just be competitive with cost and the best value compared to your competitors earns my business.

How often do you think about the wages of people that provide a good or service to you? From the grocery store, the nurse, the accountant, pizza delivery guy. So why would the average passenger give a hoot what you make. We are not that important as we like to think we are. Our beef for more money is with the stakeholders and management. In fact if the flying public thinks a pay raise for you translates to higher fares they probably will have a more negative view of us.

.02

 

This too... with flying being so safe now due to all the major technology advancements, making the job an order of magnitude easier than it was 2-3 decades ago, there is also a skills/pay issue.. Pilots today aren't what they were in the day when they earned "a cadillac a month" and the only way to keep wages up is thru unionized force.. if we let the pure free market work, we'd all make a lot less.. even the majors.

 

Even in a great hiring binge like today there are a boatload of pilots who aren't going to make it to the top of the commercial pyramid (the mainline).

Its the "I got mine" syndrome. As long as they have their jobs they see no real need to expand mainline flying and open the door for more new guys. Its really very short sighted.

 

I'm presuming you're referring to Flight Pay Loss as "paid" ALPA work. Flight Pay Loss is not available to the majority of ALPA volunteers.

 

I know, I was referring my comment to Seafeye above... he was the one misinformed. I wear a 20 year ALPA pin, I get it trust me.