hook_dupin
Well-Known Member
It is actually that simple. The flaw in your evaluation is frequency.
Your comparisons assume that the company will use a pilot on premium pay on a regular basis (i.e. up to a line value worth of flying per month). This is never the case.
Remember, when a pilot is on staff he is costing every day, 365/year, whether he is flying or not. Take that guy out of the equation and substitute him with some premium pay flying every once and a while from someone already on staff anyway and the company is going out make out big, even if they payed 300% pay
Correct on the frequency assumption. I could have broken it up this way:
If the company only had some sporadic trips to fill that don't really equal the annual cost of bringing back a furloughed guy, then premium rate flying makes sense all ways around. Do it if able and negotiate the highest rate possible. Those few trips that are either filled or cancelled aren't going to bring back the furloughed guy, as it's not wise to have a guy on the roster who only flies a few hours per month. I'd argue that a flying organization that has this type of call-in rate has their pilot staffing as perfect as possible.
It's the case where the company is using premium-rate flying as a stop-gap for poor personnel policy that I'm really trying to attack. I.e...the company has enough extra flying to potentially bring a guy back, but decides not to because other pilots are willing to work overtime at a low cost. If it costs a company 150% of an annual salary to bring back a guy from the street, but folks are willing to fly extra for less than 150%, then all those willing to fly have made the case for keeping others on the street. If folks are demanding more than what it would cost to bring back the furlough guy, then it will be in the company's best interest to re-issue an ID badge. When offered, negotiate for as high a rate as possible to drive the company to bring back a guy who must fly that line at the normal rate.
Hopefully, most companies are operating in the first case and not the second when they call. I hope that's why ALPA has approved OT with guys furloughed. Of course, you don't really know (other than through standard pilot lounge rumor mill) which case the company is in when they call. Thankfully, bold-face is the same for both: do it if able and negotiate the highest rate possible.
Again...arm-chair economist here (among many other things)