Flying Horses
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2004
- Posts
- 73
I would like to take a poll to see what 50-seat Jet Captain Pay will be at different regional carriers at the time that Comair's pay freeze ends. I would like to compare those that have a current contract (that will have annual Date of Service and Contractual Yearly increases until at least 2007), such as Express Jet, Chautauqua, American Eagle, Mesa, PSA, and maybe SkyWest, Air Wisconsin, and Trans States.
My contention is that Comair (in the middle of 2007) will then be among the lowest-paid regional 50-seat jet captains.
To make this standardized, let's consider what a current 5-year captain will be making in 2007, thus what is your 7-year captain pay under your 2007 pay table?
At Comair, a 5-year 50-seat captain is paid $68.13 (definitely the highest-paid out there). But in 2007, that now 7-year Comair captain is still being paid $68.13, and when they get their longevity raise finally in the Summer of 2007, they will be getting $70.23. Thus, a 7-year 50-seat Comair captain in 2007 will be getting paid $68.13-$70.23, depending on what part of the year.
Two airlines that I can find contracts for are ExpressJet and Chautauqua. So, here are their numbers:
ExpressJet: 7-year 50-seat captain eff. 12/07 ---- $72.93 (3.7% more than Comair's $70.23 in 12/07)
Chautauqua: 7-year 50-seat captain eff. 12/07 ---- $71.21 (1.4% more than Comair's $70.23 in 10/07)
My point to all this:
Comair pilot's have worked very hard in obtaining industry-leading rates. This will all be negated with this concession package. Comair pilots' would be throwing away money that they have already earned. I do understand the reasoning behind Comair's pilots' possible decision to lower their pay rates. They feel they have to be paid lower than others in order to obtain growth, just as others have been doing to them. However, I feel that Comair is a very large regional airline with a long history with Delta, and that Comair will always be around and grow within the Delta system (and maybe with other airlines in the future). After all, Comair, even with their higher pay rates, is among the lowest cost regionals out there.
The group that will be hurt the most if these concessions pass is the Comair pilot group. They will be losing income immediately, and will never have the leverage again in 2007 or later in the future to obtain a superior contract. Growth will come to Comair, regardless of whether this passes or not, albeit maybe on a different timetable. Comair pilots are gambling thousands of dollars on their CEO's inference that Comair can only grow with Comair pilots getting paid less. I say, keep what you have, and don't gamble away your hard-earned money.
Although this doesn't have to matter to Comair pilots, the next group that will be hurt by this, are any that are in contract negotiations right now, especially ASA. If this passes, a Comair + % contract is worthless, and the negotiating group will have to shoot for much less. Next, all pilot groups, when their contract is up for negotiating, will be hurt because the industry average compensation will be much lower.
In conclusion, the entire regional pilot industry will be hurt by this move by the Comair pilot group, and nobody will find any good out of this. Some say that contract carriers will benefit from Comair not voting for this, but they won't. Contract carriers, such as Chautauqua and SkyWest will always exist within the Delta system. There are advantages to having them, and not because they are cheaper to Delta; in fact, in many ways, they are more expensive to Delta. That's why Delta has wholly-owned carriers, so they get all the profits. The only thing that this concession package will do to contract carriers is to cause their pay-rates to be even lower, in order to compete, which, in turn, drives down everybody's pay.
There hasn't been any concessions for any regional pilot group in a couple of years, and all new contracts in the last two years have seen good improvements. Now, this concession package by Comair will be the new catalyst in driving down regional pilot wages in the future.
My contention is that Comair (in the middle of 2007) will then be among the lowest-paid regional 50-seat jet captains.
To make this standardized, let's consider what a current 5-year captain will be making in 2007, thus what is your 7-year captain pay under your 2007 pay table?
At Comair, a 5-year 50-seat captain is paid $68.13 (definitely the highest-paid out there). But in 2007, that now 7-year Comair captain is still being paid $68.13, and when they get their longevity raise finally in the Summer of 2007, they will be getting $70.23. Thus, a 7-year 50-seat Comair captain in 2007 will be getting paid $68.13-$70.23, depending on what part of the year.
Two airlines that I can find contracts for are ExpressJet and Chautauqua. So, here are their numbers:
ExpressJet: 7-year 50-seat captain eff. 12/07 ---- $72.93 (3.7% more than Comair's $70.23 in 12/07)
Chautauqua: 7-year 50-seat captain eff. 12/07 ---- $71.21 (1.4% more than Comair's $70.23 in 10/07)
My point to all this:
Comair pilot's have worked very hard in obtaining industry-leading rates. This will all be negated with this concession package. Comair pilots' would be throwing away money that they have already earned. I do understand the reasoning behind Comair's pilots' possible decision to lower their pay rates. They feel they have to be paid lower than others in order to obtain growth, just as others have been doing to them. However, I feel that Comair is a very large regional airline with a long history with Delta, and that Comair will always be around and grow within the Delta system (and maybe with other airlines in the future). After all, Comair, even with their higher pay rates, is among the lowest cost regionals out there.
The group that will be hurt the most if these concessions pass is the Comair pilot group. They will be losing income immediately, and will never have the leverage again in 2007 or later in the future to obtain a superior contract. Growth will come to Comair, regardless of whether this passes or not, albeit maybe on a different timetable. Comair pilots are gambling thousands of dollars on their CEO's inference that Comair can only grow with Comair pilots getting paid less. I say, keep what you have, and don't gamble away your hard-earned money.
Although this doesn't have to matter to Comair pilots, the next group that will be hurt by this, are any that are in contract negotiations right now, especially ASA. If this passes, a Comair + % contract is worthless, and the negotiating group will have to shoot for much less. Next, all pilot groups, when their contract is up for negotiating, will be hurt because the industry average compensation will be much lower.
In conclusion, the entire regional pilot industry will be hurt by this move by the Comair pilot group, and nobody will find any good out of this. Some say that contract carriers will benefit from Comair not voting for this, but they won't. Contract carriers, such as Chautauqua and SkyWest will always exist within the Delta system. There are advantages to having them, and not because they are cheaper to Delta; in fact, in many ways, they are more expensive to Delta. That's why Delta has wholly-owned carriers, so they get all the profits. The only thing that this concession package will do to contract carriers is to cause their pay-rates to be even lower, in order to compete, which, in turn, drives down everybody's pay.
There hasn't been any concessions for any regional pilot group in a couple of years, and all new contracts in the last two years have seen good improvements. Now, this concession package by Comair will be the new catalyst in driving down regional pilot wages in the future.
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