That would explain your post.
The ONLY reason a regional pilot is anywhere near mainline pay is because the regionals have contributed to the mainline pilot's 50% pay cut. So, your friend's pay after going up, up and up are now half of historical mainline pay.
Wow....beat 737 pay for a whole month. That's uhhhhhh, great. I know guys making more flying a Baron than a 3 yr RJ Capt, what's your point?
Face it, it's just lipstick on a pig.
You forgot your
tag. Actually, you probably were serious, and that makes this post even more absurd. It might have something to do with your distain for regional pilots, I don't know.
The regional pilots are the reason for the mainline pilots 50% pay cut? I highly doubt that. The reason major airline pay has been slashed is because of mis-management by the executives, and they used both the Bankrupcy Code and Railway Labor Act in unison to shove concessions down the throats of the employee groups. Those pilots had options: Take concessions, in the hope they could regain their pay and benefits later, or face liquidation. Liquidation was the threat airline management used to win over the unions. The view was, "It is better to have a job for less pay than no job at all." Can't blame them for that thinking, after all, we have families to support.
Let us not forget that Comair and Air Wisconsin took concessions after 9/11. We at ExpressJet voted in a contract extension to 2010 so we did not have to negotiate in the 2008 environment. It is not only the majors that felt the pinch.
Poor management and weak scope clauses are the cause of so much growth at the regionals. Plus, if you don't happen to notice, many regional airlines are scraping the bottom of the barrel to fulfill their pilot staffing requirements. 250/25 at Trans States, or no published minimums at PSA? If that isn't a clear sign that qualified pilots are bypassing the regionals, then I don't know what is. Every regional airlines right now is having difficulty staffing their airplanes. Some airlines more than others.
I get extremely tired of reading these "holier than thou" attitudes that seem to pop up in each thread related to this topic. Have we forgotten where we came from? The regionals are still regionals, but the only reason they have morphed into the animal they are today is because of weak scope and airline management looking to save money. Period. Management is running a business. Do you blame them for monopolizing on a weak clause in a contract? I'm not saying it's right, but management and pilots have very different views of the world.
Instead of helping us bring about change, many of those who have "made it" would rather just look down from their perch and point fingers. "You sellouts! You are flying a jet for peanuts! Stand up for yourselves!" It is easier said than done, and it is even more difficult to affect change when you don't have the support of those above you.
If we are going to really change the regionals in terms of pay and benefits, we first must blur the divisional lines between "major pilot" and "regional pilot." By dividing the two sides, we are immediately putting ourselves at a disadvantage; It is a disadvantage that will make it nearly impossible to affect positive change.
