I'm not stupid. I'm aware that the top rates are more than $96. I said you cannot realistically expect to jump from $80/hr to $96/hr. it is NEVER going to happen. Look at every other 50 seat RJ operator. None of them have a rate anywhere near $96/hr for 10th year pay! When it comes down to it, that is all that matters when negotiations reach mediation and arbitration. If you do not see that then you are kidding yourself!
Yes I do realistically expect that: How many arguments do you need?
A 10 year captain gets more than that to fly a TURBOPROP at Jazz (and Canadian taxes AREN'T really any higher than US taxes).
The accumulated inflation over the past eight years has been over 20%.
The expense of getting your licenses to get into this industry keeps going up.
Mesa did not get into its present state because of high pilot pay, the financial health of the company will not be affected by paying pilots a decent wage. In fact, things might improve, morale goes up, sick calls go down, on-time performance will definitely improve (getting those valuable performance bonuses for the airline) .....
At XJT, Captains have been getting 200% for pick ups for most of the last year. That's at least an annual pay hike of 20% over the previous year, if they can do it now, they can do it next year.
No RJ captain or any captain with ten years experience should be making less than six figures, period. If negotiations reach arbitration and we don't get a decent hike in pay, at least we tried.
