For starters, the current RAH contract was not a low-ball contract taken to promote growth. That contract was how RAH pilots fought off having an alter-ego (the original Republic concept of BB), and how we got rid of junior manning. Ask anyone at Trans States how much they would give up to be rid of GoJets. Ask anyone at a company that has junior manning how much they would give up, as well. And, the 175 pay scale tops out at 114/hr. Not a bad rate for a regional, especially when said regional did not have anything bigger than a handful of 145's at the time. And, ask USAir guys what kind of pay they get for flying on a holiday (none vs. RAH 4 hours extra).
The current RAH contract was a huge improvement in terms of quality of life and earning potential over the previous SAAB based deal. It was an acheivment of note in a post 9/11 industry. Four years later, the contract now looks AVERAGE at worst compared to all the other regional carriers.
Now it is time to work again at it. We have a very strong bargaining position (more growth than we can handle, consistent profits, good stock value, a shortage of pilots on property) and rest assured we will not squander it. Our union negotiators won us some pretty big battles last time around, and in the interim we have fought off seniority bypass and awarded vacation cancellations, without having given up anything in return. Yes, management has tried anyway, and continues to try to beat us to a pulp, but we are holding strong, and to date have come out on top.
Our union is far from perfet, but it is strong in mind and will. We will get improvements. If you only look at hourly rates, you may not be blown away. Wages will go up some... probably most significantly for the 51-78 seat aircraft group. The 79-99 rate will go up, but marginally I'll bet. The company will likely ask us to create a new pay group for aircraft with 100 or more seats, even if only to have that option available years from now. The FO payscale will include more years of raises, as it is more likely now that we will have FO's being FO's for more than 4 years. The 4 year cap of our current contract was a result of upgrade conditions four years ago, and to date no one has been a 4 year FO at RAH unless they have chosen to do so and willingly submitted themselves to a pay cap.
Have a little faith in us, guys and gals. We haven't taken a step back til now, and there is no reason to start a backward slide either. This may get dragged out, or it may wrap up relatively quickly... Wall Street and our codeshare partners will dictate the speed of conclusion. There will be strike vote, and we will have a resounding yes. That is a mere formality nowadays. After that is done, a resolution will come, and then and only then can you judge our efforts.
