Making flying positions salaried (pros and cons)

[shon7]

What are your views on making pilot positions salaried? While it would bring down pay at the high end, (hopefully) we wouldn't have $12K first year pay for FOs any more.

 

[IP076]

What are your views on making pilot positions salaried? While it would bring down pay at the high end, (hopefully) we wouldn't have $12K first year pay for FOs any more.

Not to rain on your parade or anything, but I see this making almost no difference.

Essentially crews are salaried...they get a base pay, maybe 75 hours, and then whatever they work over top of that...its called a gaurantee....Yeah...probably didnt spell that right...

Now, for my 2 cents....you want to make airline pay better?

Start paying Flight Instructors a reasonable wage! If Instructors made 30-60k a year, a lesser percentage of them would go to the regionals and take the huge pay cut.....now, I'll probably be long dead before we ever see that happen...

 

[Insatiable]

"Start paying Flight Instructors a reasonable wage! If Instructors made 30-60k a year, a lesser percentage of them would go to the regionals and take the huge pay cut."

Don't forget, instructors get paid by the student. Learning to fly is already very expensive. If the instructors got paid anymore, learning to fly would be even more expensive, and you would have less students, effectively lowering your pay to about what it is now.

 

[Doug Parker]

Don't forget, instructors get paid by the student. Learning to fly is already very expensive. If the instructors got paid anymore, learning to fly would be even more expensive, and you would have less students, effectively lowering your pay to about what it is now.

Don't forget - these POS flight schools charge the dam students $40-50/hr and only pay the instructors $10-12/hr. If the school would quit skimming $40 an hour off the top from the instructors, maybe they would stay longer.

Chew on that one!

 

[DC8 Flyer]

What are your views on making pilot positions salaried? While it would bring down pay at the high end, (hopefully) we wouldn't have $12K first year pay for FOs any more.

I've had the exact same idea and I think it would work wonders, BUT, the old dawgs that control negotiations will never let it happen. Why? Because if they are paid a salary they can no longer milk the system for the 8 hours of pay credit to DH out and fly one leg back, etc etc.

It would be simple, depending on the type of operation, cargo, passenger, etc, you would be paid a salary based on average number of flight hours per year, say 800, for cargo it could be average number of hours on duty per year. Whatever. But you would be paid an hourly rate for anything flown over that, at the end of the year. Call it a bonus. Now the hours would be calculated on scheduled or actual, whichever is greater and CX pay 100% (not the pilots fault).

Now what are the arguments going to be against this:

1. I can't pick up open flying during the month and make more money
2. There is no incentive for pilots to pick up open flying
3. The company can sit me for a month and make it hard for me to reach my minimum

Solutions are simple

1. Stop being a greedy bastard and start earning your money and not milking the system
2. There should be no need to entice line holding pilots to pick up open flying, say it with me now RESERVE SYSTEM
3. Contractual your minimum is X hours per year, if you dont drop the trips or call in sick its the companies dime if you were "underworked"

I think it would be great. No more slow poke Captains trying to get a nother .2 out of a leg, on time performance might actually reflect what is happening so mgt will start putting decent people to work on the ramps and gates.

But I believe Utopia is a physical place and not a state of mind.

 

[Insatiable]

Don't forget - these POS flight schools charge the dam students $40-50/hr and only pay the instructors $10-12/hr. If the school would quit skimming $40 an hour off the top from the instructors, maybe they would stay longer.

Chew on that one!

Yeah right, since when does management care about its pilots? If instructors are willing to work for those wages, flight schools will continue to gouge the students and undercut the CFI. Raise instuctor wages, and students still pay for it, not the flight schools.

 

[RJP]

I can honestly say that I would love to be salaried again. I've had two flying jobs that were non-salaried and two that were. The greatest thing about the salary jobs was that I never, EVER, had to go to payroll and tell them that my pay was wrong. No matter where I flew, how much or how little, I got the same amount.

In the other jobs that were standard hourly pay, I've almost never gotten a paycheck that was correct. I end up spending hour after hour trying to get it worked out and months down the line when the company finally gives it's answer, they usually say that "we've already paid that". It's just that it never really showed up. It's a joke. Fly an extra section and never get paid. Get stuck on the ground for half a day and never get paid. Pick up an open and never get paid. It's standard.

I'll take my salary, thanks. It just makes everything easier.

 

[SkyBoy1981]

I'm not being junior manned right now or having my days off rolled because my contract states that they're going to have to pay me 150% of my hourly wage to do it. A few weeks ago on the last leg of a 4 day we had to divert to another city where we timed out and had to overnight there. The next day (which was supposed to be a day off) I was assigned to fly the return flight to my domicile. So...I got my day off restored and was paid 3.75 hours at 150% for it per my contract. The point is, if you're going to be paid a flat rate salary, how would it be possible to incorporate work rules like this? I've flown salary before, and made a bit more money, but the company could do whatever they wanted with us. Personally, I'll take the hourly pay.