Valid point... It will really create a sub culture at ML. Those who fly the RJs will be like those who flew the TPs at the regionals vs the RJs. Recall how the senior RJ pilots at regionals thought their poop didn't stink. The issue will be unity.
What benefits would those be... exactly.
Whatever is necessary to seal the deal. The goal here is to lower labor costs, not make pilots happy. Neither ML management or the Senior, politically powerful half of the ML list care about unity. Ugly, but true.
For example.....?
Again, whatever would make the deal work, while still being more economically efficient for the ML management.
Actually I think the senior ML guys might be asked to subsidize this scheme in the form of flatten compensation, whereas they are expecting to get some back after all these years of loss. They will fight hard... possibly killing the whole deal.
The mainline list, in this possible scenario, wouldn't be asked to subsidize anything. That would be the quickest way to kill this from happening. I see the opposite happening: the mainline guys get an extra percent here, and extra percent there, directly tied to the successful integration of RJs onto the list. The 'subsidy' that would make this happen would come entirely on the side of the smaller airplane wage scale.
The reason is the regionals simply do it cheaper and bringing RJs to ML will cost money. If not then it wouldn't be this way now.
The regionals do simply do it cheaper than the ML 'partners', for now, under the current model. However, in the scenario I'm fearful of happening, there is no reason for the regionals to be cheaper. Just throwing these numbers out there, but $15/hr FO and $35/hr CA pay to start, with no chance of even a COLA for the duration of the agreement, plus no benefits for, say, the first six months, would make mainline operation of RJs very feasible. The rates are horrible, but guys will line up to interview because the 777/whale rates are at the very end of the tunnel.
The problem with the senior guys it they want thier boats back and they believe they are entitled to those boats. Whereas, the junior guys and furloughed pilots simply want to own a house.
Senior guys want back what they had.
Junior guys want what they themselves never had.
I agree with both of these thoughts. This scenario, which absolutely guts the earnings of the bottom of the industry, gives everyone something they want. Most importantly, it gives the management of the ML GO the ability to post positive numbers that, at least for the first ML to go this route, are dramatically better than the rest of the industry.
The regional lifers will ask for some sort of seniority integration like 3:1 for anyone over 10 years at the regionals. Those with 15+ years will demand 1:1 and get stuck with 3:1. For pilots with 5-10 years at the regionals it would be 5:1 or even higher. Less than 5 years at the regionals = staple.
The furloughed ML pilots will state that all regional pilots = staple.
What about non ALPA regionals?
What about the APA and AMR?
