Ralph said:
I think we will see a merging of pilot salaries. Anytime a few people have all the money the systems falls apart and a radical (or sometimes violent) redistribution of wealth happens.
I think the Delta and United captains have been making far too much in contrast to the Comair captain. While I don’t think the pay will end up equal, I think salaries at the major airlines will drop to perhaps a maximum of 150 or 180 thousand a year while salaries at the regional airlines like Comair will see a maximum of just slightly lower. This will mean the major airline pilots will continue to see a drop in salaries and the regional pilot salaries will continue to rise.
It seems logical to me, but what do you think?
It is logical, but airline pay is not a free market economy. Airline pay is a result of what ALPA can negotiate.
Right now, the ALPA Executive Counsel at Delta is pushing the idea that any pay cuts should be distributed through the entire Delta system, including Comair and ASA pilots.
ALPA is a democracy without any effective executive leadership, in other words, it is a mob of pilots that bends to the will of the most powerful group. Does it make sense for ASA and Comair pilots to "share the pain of bringing Delta back to prosperity" when Comair and ASA are the only profitable units of the company? Now ask, does it make Delta pilots feel better?
So you have your answer. It all depends on ALPA's negotiating agenda and this is the real reason why scope is so important from ALPA National's view. If some day there are enough "regional" pilots to out vote the "major" pilots there will be a huge shift in ALPA's negotiating agenda. The regional pilots would like to see a more equitable distribution of pilot wages, in recognition of the fact that piloting an RJ and a 777 are not different skills. In fact, the airplanes tend to get easier the bigger they are.
Block hour, ASM, ratio, type scope does not protect major airline pilot jobs. Look around the industry for proof that ALPA's scope policy has failed. However, the ratio scope plans are effective at placing caps on the number of "regional" pilots who might vote against the "major's" interests in ALPA. Hopefully the junior members at Delta and the other majors will figure this out one day and insist on change. They too are paying a price (in long term furloughs) to maintain the pre-deregulation salary structure for the most senior 5-10% of their seniority list.
The number of wide body Captains is an ever shinking number. All airline pilots and especially junior Delta pilots have their eyes on that "brass ring." However, it would make sense for ALPA to shift priorities to improving the entire profession.
Airline management sees a dollar as a dollar. They see pay as an expense - pay that ALPA can allocate to its members. This is the whole principle behind "interest based bargaining." Delta does not love Comair pilots, ASA pilots, Delta pilots, Chautauqua, Skwest, ACA, or Eagle pilots. We are a commodity. ALPA more or less decides what that commodity costs.
When you see a 777 Captain earning nearly $400,000 a year (line check airman at DAL), or a EMB120 FO making less than $19,000 a year - either way - thank ALPA.
