Standard of living
03-22-2016 | 07:42 PM
#1
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Standard of living
I have always wondered why they don't consider crew bases being a factor when it comes to pay? Most regionals have raised their first year pay to around 30K, but if your going to be based in NYC or LAX and you want to live in base it makes it more difficult. Does anyone actually know why this is? I know there is no real sense of logic in this industry, but it doesn't make sense to me.
03-22-2016 | 07:49 PM
#3
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From: Bus driver
Most commute. Those that have a choice not to (live in a base for xyz airline) use it in the interview question of "why xyz airline". The supply/demand curve hasn't changed the scale of bases for an airline job. Blunt, but should answer your question.
03-23-2016 | 05:23 AM
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From: F/O- G-V/550
Because for many young guys, a regional airline is a temporary thing. They don't care about pay, QOL, benefits, nothing. It's a stepping stone. the mentallity is "I'll deal with whatever until i get my dream job". That's why so many don't even vote on contract negotiations
The regional airlines know that
The regional airlines know that
03-23-2016 | 06:30 AM
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Because for many young guys, a regional airline is a temporary thing. They don't care about pay, QOL, benefits, nothing. It's a stepping stone. the mentallity is "I'll deal with whatever until i get my dream job". That's why so many don't even vote on contract negotiations
The regional airlines know that
The regional airlines know that
03-23-2016 | 07:47 AM
#6
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From: 737 Right
The senior folks who want to make some extra money would bid into the bases with locality overrides. Some might live in base and other would commute. Most of the benefit would go to the upper part of the seniority list - not necessarily to the people who live in base.
03-24-2016 | 08:43 AM
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It's because we are unionized, in a nutshell. And the a union represents the interests of the majority of its' membership.
The answer lies beyond the concept of a regional often being a 'temporary' job. It's more of an industry standard that goes way back, not only in the regionals but also in the majors.
It's also related to our travel benefits and our schedules, both of which make it (relatively) easy to "commute" long distances to work. Most people in other types of jobs don't even consider the possibility of commuting by air from hundreds or thousands of miles like many do in the airline industry.
If one pilot is senior enough and chooses to live at a lower-cost domicile or to commute from a lower-cost area, he doesn't want to give up wages (be paid less) than another pilot who often chooses to live in a higher cost domicile.
Consequently, many pilots who do not have family "roots" in those higher-cost domiciles often commute to avoid the high cost of living, the congested cities, or both.
So airline unions have typically not negotiated contracts based on the local cost of living because often pilots live in those areas by choice and the majority doesn't want to subsidize the minority.
If airline pilots were not unionized, perhaps our companies might allow for cost of living in setting our wages as is sometimes practiced in other industries.
The answer lies beyond the concept of a regional often being a 'temporary' job. It's more of an industry standard that goes way back, not only in the regionals but also in the majors.
It's also related to our travel benefits and our schedules, both of which make it (relatively) easy to "commute" long distances to work. Most people in other types of jobs don't even consider the possibility of commuting by air from hundreds or thousands of miles like many do in the airline industry.
If one pilot is senior enough and chooses to live at a lower-cost domicile or to commute from a lower-cost area, he doesn't want to give up wages (be paid less) than another pilot who often chooses to live in a higher cost domicile.
Consequently, many pilots who do not have family "roots" in those higher-cost domiciles often commute to avoid the high cost of living, the congested cities, or both.
So airline unions have typically not negotiated contracts based on the local cost of living because often pilots live in those areas by choice and the majority doesn't want to subsidize the minority.
If airline pilots were not unionized, perhaps our companies might allow for cost of living in setting our wages as is sometimes practiced in other industries.
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