PAY....WHO CARES ABOUT PAY.
But wait. One Captain walked off the aircraft earlier this week and quit. ( CP had to cover the trip to Alaska ) 3 more Captains have submitted resignations for this month. So 3 last month, and 4 this month.
2 F/O's also on the way out this month. Expect another 2 Captains to go as soon as a class date is announced.
The bean counters have already figured out that it is cheaper to hire and train, than pay more to keep them here.
So, pay is NOT going to happen anytime soon..

They could pay $100k/year and not know if you’re staying.
They can pay $70k and know for sure you’re not staying and spend $30k/pilot on hiring/training and break even.

Sure
Wish
I
Finished
Training....

Won’t forget the first time a lead FA raised an eyebrow and said: Oh honey you’ve just been Swifted...

Nothing will change....unless there’s an incident.
Then the lights will go out in 6 months like Eastern after running Pence off the runway in LGA.

Time check

So the pay will practically stay the same unless we work more? If you take the bonus away and replace it with block hour pay then the pay stays the same unless you work more.

They’re getting rid of the retention bonuses in lieu of pay raises. Basically integrating it into the pay. Not sure what that will equal out to. We’re due one in September. Hopefully they decide on what the plan is.

Well if they raise the block pay then I can do more with the hourly rate than with a one time bonus. 2-3 days of OT at high block value is good money.

That’s the dark side of the charter business. You can’t rush a customer that’s paying for convenience.

A good solution may be a duty rig attached to your block pay. A 3:1 duty rig for example would pay 1 block/credit hour for every 3 hours on duty.

I hate to tell you this but higher hourly rates will not make your company more efficient or your customers get their acts together. I worked at ATA and we did a lot of the flying you are doing now including the MIA stuff. We made pretty good money back in the day. Same stories as you just related above. I now work for K4 and by most metrics we make great money for ACMI flying. Today I just finished a total FUBAR and it's not that unusual.

You need and deserve to make more money but don't think if you get it your company will become more streamlined. Charter/ACMI flying is never going to run as smooth as scheduled passenger or freight flying.

When will the pay rates go into effect, is it something the next few classes will see? Also, is everyone still going to MIA for sims and for the initial base? I've heard that IWA/AZA has FO openings now, wondering if some people in future classes would get stuck there instead of MIA, or are there still enough FO spots open in MIA where everyone goes there?

Standard for scheduled 121:
5 hours of pay anytime I get dressed (for me averaged over the trip, barf...)
1 hour for every 2 hour in uniform.
1 hour for every 3.5 hour TAFB.

Not sure how likely it is, but worth fighting for. Good luck!

My class 50% got IWA and 50% got Mia no home basing, some of us are hoping to hold home based with this upgrade bid that just came out. I’m hoping for August home based. Mia Schedules are pretty commutable with decent days off but I like more days off in a row if I can get it.