Quote:
Originally Posted by sailingfun
Again you would have to be naive to believe both the company and NMB do not recognize both the cost and value of profit sharing.
But it is also a nonfixed cost that does NOT impact company profitability as it goes away before the company posts a lost.
Additionally, I would posit that while the company is aware of the money outlay, it does not have the same impact to the NMB as they put a lot of weight on the actual pay rates and comparison among other companies.
This is also true of competitor negotiation patterns. Pay rates are quickly approached, it is outside areas that are not. Moving our profit sharing to pay would have a distinct advantage to other pilot groups as their pay moved to match ours while they got to keep their currently worse profit sharing while we would then have nothing.
Additionally, in a future down turn, profit sharing does not have a cost to a company not turning a profit while higher pay rates do. Thus, profit sharing can provide an automatic spring back to pay rates when times get better again. Pay rates alone are a tempting target for a bankruptcy court.