Adjusted Salary by Region

MOGuy424

MOGuy424

Well-Known Member
I know this is a pipe dream that something like this would ever happen, but I still have to ask why?
Why is it that every other industry or career usually has an adjusted cost of living per region that the employee is expected to work in, but not the airlines?

Has this even ever been a topic with union's within the airlines? How can an FO who is based in LGA be expected to live on exact wages that an FO based in ORD area lives on? (if you have never compared of cost of living on the east coast vs the midwest it is pretty amazing)

I asked one upper management this question once, and the reply I got was "well you could always commute." Really? Really?!

To me, along with the battle for the low wages at most of our regionals, I would think this would also have been a topic that comes up.

Anyway, just a random thought that popped in my head a few weeks ago after talking with a fellow FO who is based in LGA and what is cost to live in that area.
 
Honestly, the commuting answer is what you typically get. It's a result of such a large number of pilots commuting, so management pretty much views it as normal to commute. For example, somewhere in the range of 60-70% of our pilots commute. When it's a majority of the group commuting, management doesn't exactly have a bad argument. After all, why are you going to pay someone who's based in LGA a 30% override for cost of living if he's commuting to Houston?
 
To me it is the "expected" of the company that bugs me. Sure you "could" commute, but what if you do not want that lifestyle? It is as if they expect you to take a hit in QOL by commuting, but if you are of the percentage that decides to move to base, there is no adjusted income for this high cost of living bases.

To many, they may not have the choice between an EWR base and a HOU base. Maybe that guy commuting to LGA from Houston has to do so because the pay does not support him to live in a place like New Jersey or NY where the cost of living would cause a first or second yr FO to be pretty close to the Federal Poverty Line. The management knows that some people commute just because they don't want to live in that base, but don't give second thought that MOST people are commuting bc there is no way they could afford to live in that base.
 
That's not really true, though. We have an ATL domicile, and Atlanta is one of the cheapest places to live in the country. But we still have 60-70% of our pilots commuting. Why? Because pilots just want to live where they want to live, and it has little to nothing to do with cost of living most of the time.

But even if it did, the problem comes in with not being able to split the pay rates between commuters and non-commuters. The company is obviously not going to be willing to pay a 30% cost of living override to a LGA based pilot who commutes to MCI. And they can't pay a pilot who commutes differently than a pilot who doesn't commute. So, in practice, it just isn't practical to provide a cost of living adjustment to pilots. You know, unless you eliminate commuting and require pilots to live where they're based. And I think we all know how that would go over with pilots.
 
Well yes that is a good point without a doubt. I never thought of it that way. I guess I could see it being different if we were required to live in the base we were assigned, that would in my mind require an adjusted cost income. But since we can commute and are not required I see your point.

Thanks for participating! :)
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Honestly, the commuting answer is what you typically get. It's a result of such a large number of pilots commuting, so management pretty much views it as normal to commute. For example, somewhere in the range of 60-70% of our pilots commute. When it's a majority of the group commuting, management doesn't exactly have a bad argument. After all, why are you going to pay someone who's based in LGA a 30% override for cost of living if he's commuting to Houston?
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And for what it's worth, you're "expected" to commute for COLA, but when scheduling is concerned, everyone lives 5 minutes from their domicile. ;)
 
Autothrust Blue said:
And for what it's worth, you're "expected" to commute for COLA, but when scheduling is concerned, everyone lives 5 minutes from their domicile. ;)
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Yeah, like the monkey said, that's a regional thing. And probably just a bad regional thing. Long-call reserve is a standard provision of major airline contracts, as are generous commuting clauses.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Yeah, like the monkey said, that's a regional thing. And probably just a bad regional thing. Long-call reserve is a standard provision of major airline contracts, as are generous commuting clauses.
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Long call reserve is the best thing since sliced bread...and I live within short-call distance of work.

Edit: FWIW, the last few months, that's not just been a 'reserve' thing. There's been a drop in the commutability of our pairings for undetermined reasons beyond "it's summer!"
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Long call reserve is the best thing since sliced bread...and I live within short-call distance of work.

Edit: FWIW, the last few months, that's not just been a 'reserve' thing. There's been a drop in the commutability of our pairings for undetermined reasons beyond "it's summer!"
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With the exception of the federal government, I know of no industries that have differing salaries by location. Companies have jobs to fill; they offer a salary based on the economic and market forces.
 
rocketman5150 said:
With the exception of the federal government, I know of no industries that have differing salaries by location. Companies have jobs to fill; they offer a salary based on the economic and market forces.
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Yes, and outside of aviation in high-COL areas companies have to offer higher salaries to attract employees. In aviation? "You want me to live in the most expensive city in the country and want to pay me 25 large a year to start? Please sir, can I have some more?"
 
Roger Roger said:
Yes, and outside of aviation in high-COL areas companies have to offer higher salaries to attract employees. In aviation? "You want me to live in the most expensive city in the country and want to pay me 25 large a year to start? Please sir, can I have some more?"
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Salaries are not based on the cost of living. They're based on what it takes to get qualified talent in the door. By and large, the airline industry does not have that problem. I bet salaries could be lower than they are, and they would still have their pick of qualified people.
 
rocketman5150 said:
Salaries are not based on the cost of living. They're based on what it takes to get qualified talent in the door. By and large, the airline industry does not have that problem. I bet salaries could be lower than they are, and they would still have their pick of qualified people.
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For a period of time.

Notice enrollment at UND, ERAU and new student pilot certificates are much lower.
 
Well, I don't know anything about that, but if there comes a shortage of qualified talent, the industry will figure it out. That's what business does.
 
rocketman5150 said:
Salaries are not based on the cost of living. They're based on what it takes to get qualified talent in the door. By and large, the airline industry does not have that problem. I bet salaries could be lower than they are, and they would still have their pick of qualified people.
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I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I said. Outside of aviation, companies in high cost areas of the country have to pay higher to attract talent.
 
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