Exactly. I've been hearing the same "my W2 is bigger than my friend's at another major" for over 2 decades. It's definitely gotten better in the current contract, so these new guys don't really have a valid frame of reference. Think about how much better we could've done had we not had this attitude stinking up the place for the last 30 years?


It's definitely a grind. I spend WAY too much time optimizing my schedule every month, and I am even not trying for record TFP. Other than the summer months, where I hit the POT hard, I rarely fly more than 100tfp and even then, I rarely work more than 12 days a month.

The upside is that we CAN do it. For now. The way things are going in the interest of "fairness", this group is not gonna be happy until 84% of us vote in PBS.

 

It seems you’re not understanding the correlation or importance of work rules vs. pay rate.

Since the topic here was reserve, let’s talk about it:

Delta reserve: ALV-2 hours. Let’s call it 78 hours x $88/hour or $6,864/month. If I’m not mistaken, their reserve obligation is 18 days a month.

United reserve is 73 hours, but I believe they get more credit if they get converted to short call, so let’s call it 76 hours x $85/hour or $6,460/month. I believe they also are on the hook 18 days a month.

American reserve is 76 hours (all short call) at $88/hour which comes out to $6,688/month. I believe they’re also 18 days on reserve per month.

None of their pilots make anything above those numbers while on reserve unless they actually go over their guarantee.

Now here come the underpaid industry-laggards at Southwest with our converted rate of $79/hour using 79 hour “guarantee” as listed on APC or $6,241/month and we are on the hook 15 or 16 days a month with at least 15 off on reserve.

Money-wise... unlike at every other airline and unlike how it was here prior to this contract, our reserve pilots get paid extra every time they show up to work. I’ve seen first year guys on reserve here do as high as 135 TFP without picking up, but more commonly between 100 and 115 TFP. Let’s go with 108 TFP or 94 hours as a mean figure using converted figures. 94 hours x $79/hour comes out to $7,426/month, compared with Delta’s $6,864; American’s $6,688; United’s $6,460.

Hourly rates vs. work rules....

So when I say I want you to keep up a good fight for that “hourly”, I really mean it.

 

Must be base-specific or I must have gotten lucky. Also, I generally don’t pick up out-of-base unless the trip has a DH through my domicile.

As Slip says... should get a little easier as the summer approaches.

 

To RJS’s point, twice last year I hit 130 TFP in a month just being on reserve. No pickups. And one four day block at the end of one of those spent from the couch...in June.

Other months I was on reserve: 112, 112, 112, 97.

 

Bottom line is you can make as little as you want and you can make as much as you want. The work is not hard. If you want to compare apples to oranges, fine. At the end of the day(or year) it's the w2 that counts.
"Honey I made 50k less than a swa pilot of equal stature, but I made more per hour!" Says the delta guy.

Money talks and bull s&%t walks

 

This subject has been beaten to death.
To generalize - you have the opportunity to make more at SWA, but you may work harder to make that happen.
Our trips are more dense, less about the overnight, and more about making widgets for the company. Along the way, there are some fairly sweet deals for pilots interested in making money and going home to have time off.
You can fly your line, but you are missing a great opportunity to tune your schedule to your desires.

 

Just to be clear... the topic was reserve as that’s where everyone starts. This has nothing to do with picking up extra, but merely points out the importance of work rules vs. fixating on rates.

 

I think you turned it into reserve. The op wanted an effective hourly rate. Look at the thread title. You started adding all qualifiers with reserve, picking up extra. Thats the only reason I jumped in.
No one bids reserve if they can hold a line.

 

BZC17 -- I have to call BS on your post above. I have averaged 130+ TFP per month for the last 5 years here living in domicile AND at the end of the year I add up my total days worked and it has never been over 15 days a month. I spend maybe 2 hours a week optimizing my schedule to go from a line award of 90-100 depending on the time of year to over 130 by spending 2 hours a week -- time well spent? I'd say so.
The last 4 months I've average 155+ TFP working 12-14 actual days by playing the FO sit at home on reserve game because we are overmanned on FO's right now.
I have a great family life AND do 130+ every month and never work more than 14-15 days a month. It is easily do-able if you are smart enough to live in domicile.
And I never pick up out of base unless it is a JA trip that someone wants to give away -- I'll commute in for Double Time pay!

 

I did 147 tfp last month (35 at second year pay) as a first year guy on reserve. I was away from home 8 nights.