SlumTodd_Millionaire
Most Hated Member
We've all seen the threads on here and other message boards about a so-called "national seniority list." Everyone knows the merits of such a system, but no one has really been able to come up with a way to do it. Well, it now looks like some initial steps are being taken that could lead us in that direction.
I had a conversation with a few ALPA leaders yesterday about the latest efforts of reducing the whipsaw at the regional level. An interesting idea has come up: longevity protection across company lines. For now, this idea is only taking roots among the regional MECs, but hopefully it could eventually spread to the mainline carriers if it works. The general idea is that airlines would be required to hire displaced/furloughed pilots from the other regional airlines while giving them their longevity, based on their amount of time as an ALPA member.
For example:
Let's say you work for ExpressJet and something happens that causes you to get furloughed. Let's also say that you've been at ExpressJet for two years and have been an ALPA member for the same amount of time. Therefore, your longevity is two years. Now, let's say that Eagle is currently hiring pilots. The MEC Chairman at ExpressJet would call up the MEC Chairman at Eagle and tell him that he has a few hundred pilots that need jobs. Eagle would have to hire these furloughed pilots first, before any off-the-street hires, and they would have to pay them at their ALPA longevity. In this case, they would start at Eagle on 3rd year pay, since they've already completed two years of longevity. So, instead of starting over at the bottom of the payscale at $24/hr, they would instead be starting at $36/hr, which is the 3rd year rate. That's just $1 less than the rate they were making at ExpressJet, instead of $13 less if they started at the bottom. Understand that this just applies to longevity, and not to seniority. You would still be at the bottom of the list for bidding purposes, but you'd receive all of the benefits of longevity (payrates, amount of vacation, etc...)
Now, my question to these ALPA leaders was simple: how do you make it happen? They actually had some good answers, which is a first for this overall issue. ALPA Economics & Financial Analysis has created comprehensive reports that show that all of the regional airlines waste an additional 40-60% in training costs per pilot due to washouts, attrition, and longer training cycles due to always having to hire the lowest time pilots with no experience, compared to what they would have to pay for experienced pilots if they simply offered them longevity pay. The cutoff is apparently the 5-year mark. Hiring a pilot that has 5-years of ALPA longevity would cost slightly more than hiring a brand new guy, but that's a minimal consideration since it's rare for 5+ year pilots to be out on the street looking for work. Generally, this sort of system would save the airlines millions in training in the long run, and hundreds of thousands in the short run.
My other concern was support across MEC lines. In other words, how likely is it that all of the regional MEC could agree on such a system? For the first time, it seems as if the regional MECs are actually coming together. An overwhelming majority of the ALPA MECs have already agreed to such a system if it can be implemented with management.
Now, this isn't a done deal yet, but it is moving along very well. The challenge is to convince management to go along, which can be difficult even with massive cost savings being demonstrated. That being said, I was optimistic after hearing the details. I think this might actually be a workable plan, and it could lead to great improvements in the future that might someday lead to a true NSL.
Just figured I'd update everybody since this is a common discussion topic.
I had a conversation with a few ALPA leaders yesterday about the latest efforts of reducing the whipsaw at the regional level. An interesting idea has come up: longevity protection across company lines. For now, this idea is only taking roots among the regional MECs, but hopefully it could eventually spread to the mainline carriers if it works. The general idea is that airlines would be required to hire displaced/furloughed pilots from the other regional airlines while giving them their longevity, based on their amount of time as an ALPA member.
For example:
Let's say you work for ExpressJet and something happens that causes you to get furloughed. Let's also say that you've been at ExpressJet for two years and have been an ALPA member for the same amount of time. Therefore, your longevity is two years. Now, let's say that Eagle is currently hiring pilots. The MEC Chairman at ExpressJet would call up the MEC Chairman at Eagle and tell him that he has a few hundred pilots that need jobs. Eagle would have to hire these furloughed pilots first, before any off-the-street hires, and they would have to pay them at their ALPA longevity. In this case, they would start at Eagle on 3rd year pay, since they've already completed two years of longevity. So, instead of starting over at the bottom of the payscale at $24/hr, they would instead be starting at $36/hr, which is the 3rd year rate. That's just $1 less than the rate they were making at ExpressJet, instead of $13 less if they started at the bottom. Understand that this just applies to longevity, and not to seniority. You would still be at the bottom of the list for bidding purposes, but you'd receive all of the benefits of longevity (payrates, amount of vacation, etc...)
Now, my question to these ALPA leaders was simple: how do you make it happen? They actually had some good answers, which is a first for this overall issue. ALPA Economics & Financial Analysis has created comprehensive reports that show that all of the regional airlines waste an additional 40-60% in training costs per pilot due to washouts, attrition, and longer training cycles due to always having to hire the lowest time pilots with no experience, compared to what they would have to pay for experienced pilots if they simply offered them longevity pay. The cutoff is apparently the 5-year mark. Hiring a pilot that has 5-years of ALPA longevity would cost slightly more than hiring a brand new guy, but that's a minimal consideration since it's rare for 5+ year pilots to be out on the street looking for work. Generally, this sort of system would save the airlines millions in training in the long run, and hundreds of thousands in the short run.
My other concern was support across MEC lines. In other words, how likely is it that all of the regional MEC could agree on such a system? For the first time, it seems as if the regional MECs are actually coming together. An overwhelming majority of the ALPA MECs have already agreed to such a system if it can be implemented with management.
Now, this isn't a done deal yet, but it is moving along very well. The challenge is to convince management to go along, which can be difficult even with massive cost savings being demonstrated. That being said, I was optimistic after hearing the details. I think this might actually be a workable plan, and it could lead to great improvements in the future that might someday lead to a true NSL.
Just figured I'd update everybody since this is a common discussion topic.
