Excellent question.

It can probably be answered by observing which section most pilots immediately turn to when a TA is laid on the table...compensation.

I agree and that is a myopic view that, I believe, is changing. I think that the pilot group in general has become more educated to the fact that a good contract is not based solely on compensation but is a total package that must be viewed as such. At least I hope so!

What's the source for this? Last time I checked, the majors all took pay cuts, lost their pensions (except American), and got scope relaxed via sham bankruptcies. Name one airline that relaxed scope and got pay/benefit raises.

One has to read between the lines when dealing with board postings.

You are correct. Comp took a hit along with scope reductions. Without putting words into the poster's keystrokes, most accepted agreements included scope relaxation in exchange for less of a comp reduction. All the poster said was, "...in exchange for pay/benefits." There was no inference of an increase.

Thanks, well said. If scope wasnt bartered away then the legacy carriers would have had much deeper cut in benefits, as hard as it is to believe. The horrendous working conditions of the regional carriers are in some ways subsidizing the mainline labor groups and keeping them from taking even larger hits in compensation.

Our industry (and our country) are losing bazillions of dollars per year, and facing tougher competition from all directions (regionals, LCC, foreign carriers, ground based transportation) not to mention the government pressure and fuel costs that keep rising. It sounds sweet to hear union leaders shout it, but it is ignorant to truly believe legacy carriers will 'take back scope' and get pay/benefit increases at the same time. Period.

While there are a variety of opinions about how to structure the rest of our contract, the universal opinion at APA is ALL FLYING OVER 50 SEATS WILL BE DONE BY AA PILOTS! And no we won't be taking a pay cut to get it.

Agreed. It drives me nuts hearing the greedy pilots who gave up their scope for more money complain about all the regional pilots that took their jobs. Both sides may have fault in this whole mess, but one side made the bed. The other is laying in it. It would be much easier to take back scope one contract at a time instead of trying to get tens of thousands of fresh pilots to say "no" to first year regional pay.

If any legacy can do it, AA would be the closest and most realistic candidate to see it happen. If the APA members are willing to have a flat change in compensation while increasing productivity and competitive payscales for 50-100seat jet flying (No F100 rates) then I believe they can take all turbojet flying above 50 seats. Pension would be closed to newhire pilots not on the AA seniority list. I dont know if those conditions would work for other AA labor groups though.

Also remember there's growing population of ****ed off regional pilots who aren't going to vote on crap contracts either. Controlling outsourcing has already started, ratios, routes, seats are all ways to do it. It need to be a grass roots movement. This isn't going to be one major wave, but rather more like slowly rising water. All of a sudden the amount of regionals will diminish as they'll have staffing issues with the 1500 hr rule. Low paying ones will go first. More mergers. Probably will have 2-3 super regionals left.

Hiring will be steady all across the board but nothing gigantic for a few years unless the economy turns quickly. 2012 vote will be big for the future of our career. The Anti-union/organized labor movement going on right now could really set us back again.

Flat change in compensation? IE no pay raise? IMO that ain't happening.

"all turbojet flying above 50 seats"? The majority supports "all flying above 50 seats". Huge difference.