GogglesPisano
Pawn, in game of life
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
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September 10, 2008, 8:43 am
Does Pilot Performance Worsen After Pay Cuts?
Posted by Matt Phillips
Continental pilots conduct informational picketing in Houston in June.
The union representing Continental Airlines pilots said the company began furloughing 148 pilots Tuesday, though more layoffs were avoided when some pilots took “voluntary steps such as early retirements,” the Associated Press reported.
Actions like this have been expected as the airlines downshift operations this fall to help deal with fuel costs that remain high by historical standards. The Associated Press writes:
The pilots’ layoffs are part of more than 2,500 jobs that have been eliminated at Continental, the fourth-largest U.S. carrier. The others were accomplished with voluntary measures such as leaves and retirements and not layoffs, the company has said.
For travelers, it’s unclear what ultimate impact such furloughs, layoffs, pay cuts and other assorted cost trimmings will have on the employee morale, and by extension, the level of misery or bliss during trips.
Interestingly, I ran across this 2007 economics paper today, (Hat-tip: Portfolio.com’s Odd Numbers.) in which economists Darin Lee and Nicholas Rupp, tried to figure out if the pay cuts taken by commercial air pilots earlier this decade resulted in a drop in effort on their part. The economists used flight delays as a proxy for “unobservable pilot effort.” They acknowledged that other airline employees could contribute to flight delays, but the economists focused on pilots because in some instances they were the only employees who had their pay cut, and also, when other employees also had their wages cut, pilots often saw the largest drops in pay. They write:
“We believe that the link between effort and delays is the most clear cut for pilots. Not only do pilots have the final say as to if and when a flight is prepared to depart (and thus are in the “best” position to induce a delay), unlike many other airline employee groups, pilots have few opportunities for other types of “poor” behavior. In contrast, baggage handlers could choose to misdirect checked luggage to wrong destinations, mechanics could work more slowly on planes undergoing routine maintenance and flight attendants and ticket agents could be less courteous to passengers. Moreover, pilots are somewhat unique in that they are essentially unsupervised, whereas other ground-based employee groups work under the scrutiny of management supervisors.”
So what did their research find?: “Our study finds only limited evidence to support the concerns expressed by company officers in interviews regarding the adverse effects on employee morale from wage cuts.”
That’s nice to know, especially when these employees are in charge of rocketing you safely through the atmosphere in a pressurized aluminum tube.
Photo: Associated Press
Does Pilot Performance Worsen After Pay Cuts?
Posted by Matt Phillips
Continental pilots conduct informational picketing in Houston in June.
The union representing Continental Airlines pilots said the company began furloughing 148 pilots Tuesday, though more layoffs were avoided when some pilots took “voluntary steps such as early retirements,” the Associated Press reported.
Actions like this have been expected as the airlines downshift operations this fall to help deal with fuel costs that remain high by historical standards. The Associated Press writes:
The pilots’ layoffs are part of more than 2,500 jobs that have been eliminated at Continental, the fourth-largest U.S. carrier. The others were accomplished with voluntary measures such as leaves and retirements and not layoffs, the company has said.
For travelers, it’s unclear what ultimate impact such furloughs, layoffs, pay cuts and other assorted cost trimmings will have on the employee morale, and by extension, the level of misery or bliss during trips.
Interestingly, I ran across this 2007 economics paper today, (Hat-tip: Portfolio.com’s Odd Numbers.) in which economists Darin Lee and Nicholas Rupp, tried to figure out if the pay cuts taken by commercial air pilots earlier this decade resulted in a drop in effort on their part. The economists used flight delays as a proxy for “unobservable pilot effort.” They acknowledged that other airline employees could contribute to flight delays, but the economists focused on pilots because in some instances they were the only employees who had their pay cut, and also, when other employees also had their wages cut, pilots often saw the largest drops in pay. They write:
“We believe that the link between effort and delays is the most clear cut for pilots. Not only do pilots have the final say as to if and when a flight is prepared to depart (and thus are in the “best” position to induce a delay), unlike many other airline employee groups, pilots have few opportunities for other types of “poor” behavior. In contrast, baggage handlers could choose to misdirect checked luggage to wrong destinations, mechanics could work more slowly on planes undergoing routine maintenance and flight attendants and ticket agents could be less courteous to passengers. Moreover, pilots are somewhat unique in that they are essentially unsupervised, whereas other ground-based employee groups work under the scrutiny of management supervisors.”
So what did their research find?: “Our study finds only limited evidence to support the concerns expressed by company officers in interviews regarding the adverse effects on employee morale from wage cuts.”
That’s nice to know, especially when these employees are in charge of rocketing you safely through the atmosphere in a pressurized aluminum tube.
Photo: Associated Press
