AJC Article: Pay Cuts Downsize Pilots' Careers

[On Your Six]

How do these wages compare with city bus drivers' or Amtrak wages? I know all about refinancings and adjusting my spending - more than I ever wanted to....

 

[Heavy Set]

Unfortunately many of us understand this story...

 

[J32driver]

The salary figures on Worthless can be found in a back issue of Reader's Digest. They did an article on Union Fat Cats and Worthless was right at the top.

MEC's use to get paid the top airline salary by the union. That changed with Woerth. Somehow he managed to change or get voted in a substantial raise for himself. And yes, I think $412,000 is the correct figure from the Reader's Digest article.

The article hung in our crew lounge for a while. Not sure what month it was from.

Still not sure who has done more damage... Woerth or Orenstein. Maybe Johny is whispering ideas into his head while he's pumping Duane from behind?

 

[MW44]

I think it's BS to say these pay cuts are permanent. Notice it's usually analysts and business types that say pilot pay cuts are here to stay. I imagine there is going to be an enormous backlash once the economy picks up again. We could all be making 10 bucks an hour and the idiots who run this industry would still put us in CH11 because they would just reduce the price of a ticket accordingly. Then they would be screaming for $8/hour. I think Bethune got it right when he said the airline industry is a stupid industry run by stupid people.

 

[On Your Six]

Pay rates declining by the day.... Yeah, but you still get benefits working for the airlines - like all of the young, HOT, sexy, nubile, enthusiastic flight attendants... Whooooops, that's no longer the case at Delta, UAL, AA, USAirways, NWA, and CO. I guess I spoke too soon. Yeah, this business sucks...

 

[MW44]

I agree this business has really been sad lately but I think we as pilots need to make sure that we don't let the airline executives and media make us believe that this is some kind of "new reality" or permanent paycut. That is complete and utter bullsh#t. After de-regulation we had B scales, C scales, 10 year plus furloughs, failing airlines and after all those events pilots still negotiated excellent pay.


Now we're in a brutal downturn and management wants everyone to be happy with low wages, no retirement, FAR limitations for workrules for the rest of our careers. Unfortunately this is a cyclical business but it will get better and hopefully we will be much more united as a group of professionals next time.