This is the union seniority system, the way it works. It sucks that the 8 year FO has to start over at year 1 pay at a different airline. The get in line system isn't going to change while you are still unionized.

Your best bet is to change smaller things within the system to make it more palatable. For example, would we even be having this discussion if year 1 pay was $50K? How do we get to that? Flattening of the payscales. No difference in pay (or slight) for a Captain and FO. Only longevity pays higher. Now airlines are motivated to make it a better place. They have to spend all the money on training etc.. only to have the FO bail after 1 year to airline B because it is slightly better. Airline B is doing a better job than airline A and its worth it to the FO to make a move because his pay will still be livable.

Another change in addition to flattening the scales is to keep your longevity pay while changing airlines. You still go to the bottom of the list seniority number wise, but your pay is not tied to your seniority number. I don't know how you get airlines to agree to this or what the logistics of how other unionized organizations do it.

But again, there are pluses and minus's to the union system. My wife recently changed jobs in the medical field. She was hired at a different hospital after 15 years at another hospital. She got a 3% raise to make the move, didn't have to start over. Sounds really good, but then again she is not afforded any true seniority, if there are layoffs she is probably the first to go because she is paid the most out of all her peers who do basically the same job but are younger and less experienced.

You won't.

This is how most of the non-collective bargaining world works...including business aviation.

Your experience (and compensation level) is transportable, but there's not the protections afforded by a labor union.

20 years ago, you didn't see "commuter" airline pilots in their 40s with 15+ years of seniority and 5000-10,000 hours of flight time. You didn't have two recessions, an oil crisis, and a change in the retirement age working against them getting "real" jobs.

Do you propose that all of these RJ pilots should have just put of their lives on hold for a decade, hoping for a chance to grasp the brass ring?

Rather than pilots expecting an industry to adapt to their lifestyle, I see pilots desperately trying to cope with a changing industry that becomes more and more slanted toward the top 1% every day. Those who came before us who pulled up the ladder as soon as they got in, only to taunt us who got left behind while feeding us scraps.

Based on the CPI, yeah, I said a basket of commodities. It takes years for actual price inflation to make its way through the CPI due to how its weighted, and calculated. Also, the BLS isn't anywhere near truthful.

I question your situational awareness.
I know many 29-31 year old pilots that are newly minted regional FOs with ten years of flying under their belt from instruction to charter to freight to finally the regionals thanks to the recession.

I've personaly moved sixteen times since I left home when I was 18 chasing this nut.

I'd wager this generation of pilots have sob stories to go toe to toe with the Entitlement (social security, Medicare,) generation.

Capt. tony that's kind of a cop out and you know it, this country has always been entering or exiting some sort of disaster, for every 8 to 15 year regional guy out there, they had there shot at a major at one point or another, they just didn't take the shot, maybe they were waiting for the fed-x chief pilot to jump seat on there flight to empress him enough to get that fast track shot, maybe, but usually they just got to comfortable for to long, some tried and failed then came back

Boo hoo.

If you're just getting to a regional by your 30's you started about a decade later than most. No one's problem but their own. I had 1900 TT/ATP when I hit a regional at age 24, and there were quite a few guys younger than me in my class. Also had a 4 year degree. Those younger than me had a 2-year or no degree, then got their 4 year while at the regionals. Really smart way to go.

Spot on :)

See this is where you passed up a perfect opportunity not to sound like another young entitlement minded pilot :) maybe those same pilots that had to come to the regionals because of the bad economy should be thanking the regional for hiring them and giving them a job, see that's what the older generations do, they don't complane about somebody giving them a job 😃 just sayin ...

Boo frikken hoo.

Pilots have been going through that same crap for decades upon decades in search of making it in this career.

I think you and some others should be evaluating your situational awareness.

Hate to break it to you (and some other's in this thread) but you are not special, and not everybody wins.