Southwest attendants: We have no interest in obstructing order for bigger jets

[IAHERJ]

Here's the deal...

The pilots and FA's have built-in openers in our contracts in case the company buys different A/C than the ones we currently fly. A good part of our compensation package DEPENDS on productivity. An -800 will take longer to turn around so sit times will be longer and daily pay may end up lower. Plane changes may increase, too. Any changes to the contracts will probably focus on these issues, first. Anything else will be gravy.

shootr

And that folks, is what we call an explanation. Thanks. I was curious about the whole thing and you cleared that up nicely.

 

[Skybus]

Here is another explanation for you. WE Generally have a higher regard for our coworkers than you and many others on here. Since you elected to go down this road perhaps you can tell me how much more difficult it it for YOU to fly heavier metal thus justifying more pay for larger a/c?

While I understand there is probably some correlation between the size of your a/c/paycheck/penis/need for hair transplant...

Bus

 

[airlinepilot]

Now the company is going to pay up for dropping 1,2,3 at the hotels......

 

[IAHERJ]

Here is another explanation for you. WE Generally have a higher regard for our coworkers than you and many others on here. Since you elected to go down this road perhaps you can tell me how much more difficult it it for YOU to fly heavier metal thus justifying more pay for larger a/c?

While I understand there is probably some correlation between the size of your a/c/paycheck/penis/need for hair transplant...

Bus

If you are implying that I have no respect for our FA's, you are wrong. Our FA's work their asses off and have service standards that vary with routes/aircraft etc. and they get no additional pay for working different types of aircraft. We've added different aircraft types on short notice(757-300's) and changed configurations drastically on short notice(737-800/900/900ER seating capacities differ depending on route) all the while expecting the FA's to work through it and get bulletins out asap and still offer the best service in the air. When they changed the 737-500 configuration resulting in a very small galley area for the FA's to work in, they dealt with it and still serve multi-course hot meals for our 1st class pax. I'm a big fan of our FA's and show it all the time by bringing them starbucks etc. on stops in SEA enroute to ANC and buying rounds of drinks on layovers. What it seemed, before I read the post above explaining the issue at hand; was a group of FA's able to hold up an acquisition of aircraft that have a few more seats over petty issues.

Now to the other statement, for over 50 years, pilot pay has involved a formula based on weight/speed etc. for compensation. Hell, we broke that up into only 3 levels of pay at CAL years before I arrived here. It's not about how much "harder" it is to fly a 757 or even 777 than a 737(it is actually easier). It is about reaping your portion of the revenue from the flight. When you have a 280 seat aircraft with 50 Businessfirst seats to Asia, your yield is going to be higher than a domestic flight and the pilots should be compensated in a way that reflects their contribution to that revenue segment. Right or wrong, that's how the higher pay for wide body aircraft is defended at just about every airline that operates them.

I am sorry for coming across as harsh in my 1st post on this thread but it just seemed a bit crazy that SWA would let the FA's hold up the aircraft deal on what seemed like something that would be an easy transition.