Can anyone enlighten me why it went to arbitration so quickly? I have not been following this and seems like the company and the ERJ side just started negotiating this not all that long ago.
Because there was CBA language that dictated so.
Larger equipment and their rates will not determine the juniority or seniority of who flies them on your list. It will be things like-
-new aircraft vs old- I prefer new it tends to break less
Old pilots, especially old regional pilots don't like change, so who knows what will happen. Before 2008 and the reign of the green lantern, the planes broke, well, almost never. There was a time when system wide with 274 airplanes doing almost 1500 daily departures there was less the 20 MEL's a day, SYSTEM WIDE!!!!!!! On an average month there was usually no more than 5 MX cancellations between almost 45000 departures.
-which aircraft has better schedules? bigger aircraft will be on longer routes so easier to make money and less legs per day
-bigger aircraft tend to fly to better cities thus better overnights.
Not sure. There are 70 seat operators that do the EXACT same routes that XJT does, especially the XR model. And the XR's won't be leaving as quickly as the others. I talk to plenty of RAH/SKW guys on my commute that are flying the CR7/170 and they're doing 5 legs a day also. To the SAME crappy places the 145 goes to. The bold part, not so sure about that either. A 8-10 hour MSY/MSP/ATL/LGA/DFW or whatever defines "better cities" sucks as much as ANY OTHER 8-10 hour overnight. Wouldn't matter if you were doing it on a B-1900 or a 777.
-Aircraft performance, comfort, and automation. Which one is easier to fly, less work, and doesnt make me freeze or sweat?
Understand this one, but see the point from before. Old regional pilots DON'T like change. I feel sorry for the initial cadre and/or EMB instructors that will be training the first classes. And ALL the times they'll have to hear from the Woodlands Mafia "well, back on the ATR we did it like this........"
-pilots DO have egos and tend to equate bigger with better..
Agree, I made that point a few posts back.
-people just get bored and want change.. Some motivated pilots may look at another type as making them more marketable for their next job.
Usually. But the pilots that will bid it for all the bling, glamour, prestige, and whatever else probably AREN'T going anywhere. "Well, back on the Beech, this is how we did it..........."
-Maybe most important- Where will I be on that list? People will jump all over the place trying to get a little more relative seniority then what they may have had on the other aircraft.....
Dependent on too many factors and the company. But again, that probably won't be an issue for many.
So in the end the slight difference in pay will almost be irrelevant.
True, at $2/hr it won't be. Maybe $100 more a month take home?
Believe me Guys, I want you all to get back what you gave up. But The game has changed. When you guys got your best contract you were a wholly owned subsiderary of Continental Airlines and the industry average margin for Regionals back then was 8%.
Not exactly. The IPO spinoff stock price inflation pump and dump happened in 2002. The current CBA was signed in 2004. It was a cost +10% agreement. Later lowered to about 8% IIRC.