Quote:
Originally Posted by Pirate99
Lets do a little math.
OAI top captain salary $298.00 an hour
Monthly guaranteed 64 Hours
Total $229,000
RJ Captains are making more than that; and if you live in base the QOL isn't bad. I would not commute for a regional; worst possible QOL imanginable.
My union speaks for me; but anything less than 30% won't pass a pilot vote. That would put top step CA just at $300k. Even then we are so far behind that it may take closer to 40% to get 50%+1 to catch up to the bottom of the legacy-LCC scales. A first year 737 CA at any of the big three is $281k. Big changes are needed in other areas as well. The 100% strike vote should have been clear enough that our union speaks for us. Nobody here is expecting to match the legacy rates or MMG, but it should be on the same playing field.... we're still out on the most distant parking lot.
The other issue I'm starting to see, and ATSG isn't, is the quality of pilot we're able to hire. Anybody with the time is going to LCC-Direct Entry RJ Captain, or to a legacy. That leaves us the ones that actually want to fly troops, and the odd ones.... we used to hire folks with real experience; now we hire RJ FO's and people who have never sat the left seat in 121. The only thing keeping planes out of the dirt is the quality of our training department and line captains. That barrier is being pushed to the breaking point. Oh, and ATSG maintenance sucks. Never seen so many MEL stickers on our planes. An MEL used to be open until the next stop, or at worst the next mantenance base. Now, if it says 10 days, it stays open 9.5 days; then gets an extension.
So much for the ATSG BS of Omni is exceptionally profitable and we aren't going to mess with a good thing. They do not understand the value of the intangible things. Having troops riding on planes with broken lav's, broken seat backs, inadequate catering, constant return to gates, inflight engine shutdowns, all eventually filters back to command. We didn't used to be that way, and were a preferred vendor.