"Your post was heavy on potential benefits, but decidedly light on strategies. We already have "one pilot, one vote." We already do support each other during labor disputes."
Strategy comes after the need for action, I agree implimentation would be the difficult part, what I have is an idea, theory or concept which comes from years of work in non-aviation industries. By support I mean work stoppages in the event of a strike, not just sympathy and small check /assesment(Comair comes to mind).ALPA has poisoned the minds of more than a small percentage of the pilots that they represent(RJDC?) ALPA is oriented towards the mainline operation and its pilots, our payscales(regional), work rules are direct proof. As the ranks of the mainlines decrease and the regionals increase, those are your jobs being given to newhire regional pilots, who are a fraction of your costs.
"Your idea has merit. Unfortunately, it has been touted many times before, but few have any realistic solutions on how to implement it".
See above.
" I am not putting you down, I am genuinely interested. I just have yet to hear anything that would convince me your idea is realistic. I am willing to learn, however."
The idea is just that, the reality would come from the people who are losing their jobs, ironically this would benefit the mainline pilots the most, by removing the mainline managment's ability to move flying to the low cost regionals, your job would be preserved, the regional pilot would benifit from increased wages and benefits. The corp. mgmt would benefit from stable, level employee costs without the need to negotiate constantly increasing labor contracts.
" P.S.
I would run some rough numbers, but since I have no idea how much each pilot would make under your proposal, they would be very rough indeed!"
Payscales would be negotiated, for arguement's sake, take the highest paid 737 scale, LUV's scale split the difference, bias up or down a few percent and you would have a starting point. The basic concept would be: each passenger seat on an aircraft would pay a specific value to the pilot pay scale, things such as time zone flying, international, cycles, transcons, all could have an override/enhancment to the payscale assigned to each airframe. Benefits are another variable but set these aside for the moment, they would ultimately be the real issue. (Take DAL pilots benefit package and compare to SKYW package, this is the real reason you aren't working and SKYW is hiring as we speak.)
Run your own numbers based upon your equipment and pay scale at the time of your own furlough, how long will you be out, estimate and voila, an example.
Ultimately the people whom this would affect the most are the ones whom are currently the most insulated, the top 20% of the senority lists at each carrier.
You are paying the same price as the regional pilots(lost wages and benifits) to insure that minority from financial loss, until you are in that group you will continue to subsidize their 2nd, 3rd homes and hobbies/toys with your days at home without pay. Its not that the industry has changed, the entire economy has changed. To think that the aviation industry is insulated is not realistic. Look at every other industry in the current economy, for example Dewalt(Black&Decker) has closed one of it's U.S. plants firing 1200+ employees, to relocate that plant in Mexico, what were they seeking? Per their press release, lower employee costs to increase their competitiveness. Adapt or perish, your company is betting that you will stick to your old way of doing things, that makes it easy to counterplan it's strategy to maximize profits, you's guys have been doin' it the same way for the last 50 years. Your predictibility makes you a slow moving easy target.
Hint: read sun tzsu "The Art of War " not the movie, I have 6-7 different translations and they are all slightly different in how they read, but the message is the same. It is 2500 years old and is still relavent.
PBR
