who will be awarded the AWAC flying?

[DoinTime]

You know I find it somewhat amusing that everyone argues over a few bucks either way. Big Sky 5th year CA = $58 per hour? PCL is $60, MSA is $61, Mesa is $61 also (I believe) and if memory serves, didn't ExJet just sign for 5th year CA rates around the $64 an hour range?

FYI....PCL CA with 5 years is about $64/hr ($63.96). Just about average with everyone else in the industry.

Pilot pay is minuscule (about 4%) compared to the operating expenses of an aircraft like the CRJ. Operating costs for the CRJ range between $2500-$3000/hour depending on the operator and their route structures. Comair continues to be one the most economical CRJ operators in the world because they are good at what they do, not because they have the cheapest pilots.

 

[DetoXJ]

Any RJ's operated under by Big Sky will be flown by Mesaba pilots under the Mesaba pilot contract....NOT the Big SKy pilot contract.

 

[T-handle]

Our "at least we got scope" won't mean jack if/when Foley sells off Big Sky- they're free to whore themselves once again.

 

[rightrudder]

guesses?

My guess is that since you have left AWAC for SKywest, you are beside yourself with glee, hoping that your new company will get AWAC's flying. Really, at this point it is an inappropriate question.

No one will know this for about 2 months, so just relax. Be content that you now work for UAL's "favorite" express carrier and that you no longer have to put up with all of the negative UAL BS that Air Wisconsin pilots have been dealing with for the past three years.

 

[Lear70]

FYI....PCL CA with 5 years is about $64/hr ($63.96). Just about average with everyone else in the industry.

$60, $63... whatever. The POINT was that it's childish to point fingers over $1, $2, or $4 an hour in pay differential and say that one carrier in that same pay bracket is "lowering the bar".

It's all sh*tty, just some more sh*tty than others, and quite frankly, anyone signing for those pay rates has absolutely NOTHING to be proud of.

 

[AWACoff]

That's strange,

Due to our rigs, I garner an additional 20% on top of my FAR block every month. It sure isn't a few percent as some people seem to believe.

 

[Lear70]

More ALPA crack pipe smoking...

How many cancellations do you get in one month? How many days do you fly where min day pays more than the scheduled credit? How many days do you over-block your credit by more than a few minutes?

Don't drink the kool-aid... even the ALPA brand.

 

[bvt1151]

Pilot pay is minuscule (about 4%) compared to the operating expenses of an aircraft like the CRJ. Operating costs for the CRJ range between $2500-$3000/hour depending on the operator and their route structures. Comair continues to be one the most economical CRJ operators in the world because they are good at what they do, not because they have the cheapest pilots.

Just to clarify...

Pilot Pay is 30-35% of a CRJ's operating expenses. When you include aircraft costs (which we usually do) Pilot pay becomes 17-25%. Comair's pilots represent about 22% of the aircrafts total costs of a -200, and 27% of a -700. AWAC -200 pilots represent 17.5%. This is due to either lower pay, or higher total cost. Probably a little of both.

For grins:
Pilot pay as percentage of total cost 737-300
Delta - 30.1%
United - 25.0%
Soutwest - 23.3%
Airways - 26.1%

All in all these numbers aren't too indicitive by themselves, but they become very interesting when you factor in the total costs.

 

[NDM]

bvt1151,

I believe your numbers are accurate, when you are not counting fuel in the operating expenses.

If you count fuel as an operating expense (just at $30 a barrel) you can knock 10% off of those numbers easily. Increase that to $45 a barrel and it decreases even more.

If I can find my hard numbers I will post it, but they are packed away in a box somewhere.

Dan

 

[SKYWRJGUY]

Wha?

BVT1151 --

Methinks you need to check your math, as the numbers you post appear to be total labor costs as a percentage of CASM. According to 2003 Annual Reports, Southwest's labor (salaries, wages and benefits) CASM were 3.1 cents of 7.6 cents total, or roughly 41 per cent (p.35) ; at SkyWest, our CASM costs were 3.8 of 13.4 cents (pg. 21) or 28 percent. As far as I can tell, there is no real way to determine the flight crew (pilots and FA) portion of the labor cost as a percentage of the total. When flight crews are figured in as a percentage of the direct operating costs, it is likely a much smaller percentage.

Even based on operating expenses...if an RJ burns 2500 lbs (370 gph) per hour, at a cost of $1.20 a gallon, then we're burning $444 in gas alone--30-35% of that would be $130-140/hour, which very few crews likely approximate. Be interested to see where your figures come from.