Comair pilots approve 9%-23% pay cut

I'm just slightly curious, what does everyone think is the "final resting place" for the downward slide in pay and benefits, where suddenly having a job doesn't matter since the pay is so ridiculously low and you have no health insurance?
 
I was out in CVG For training (again) for the day when the vote was announced. The instructor read the internal memo to us. The CS people in CVG tried to make us think that because the pilots were union they were stalling with the cuts and that they are not looking out for the company and that we were by just taking the cuts.

They were basicly trying to pit us against them.

Whe the total crew cost is less than $2.50 per hour per seat, crew costs are not the problem. Its the REVENUE, dumba**
 
Mr_Creepy said:
... and they have jobs!

Sucks to take a cut, but sometimes it's all you can do.
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Your right they do have jobs, in fact they probably have two jobs, like me. I don't know about you but i would like to make a living in my chosen profession.

I bet upper management took the same concessions. :sarcasm:
 
Comair

Given the financial status of Comair, their parent company, and the regional industry feeding the majors, Wall Street analysts have repeatedly suggested they will either be out of business or sold within the next 24 months.

The situation will stabilize when the 'weaklings' are gone and the industry has some solvent players again. This is business. Survival of the fittest. Unfortunately, pilots get the raw end of the deal. The industry will determine the depth of the paycuts/increases as airlines crumble and others prosper. As long as there are 2 people for every job there will be low wages. Its the universal law of supply and demand.
 
So, which one of us is going to grow some balls and put a bottom to this hole. I'll be the first one in line. The guys at my Co. had enough self respect to vote down a 1% pay raise because we felt the message was worth more than the .50 cents/hr.
 
meritflyer said:
The situation will stabilize when the 'weaklings' are gone and the industry has some solvent players again. This is business. Survival of the fittest.
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Who here thought US Air was toast about 3 years ago? How about when they went bankrupt the second time? Survival of the fittest? Yeah right!

I was reading an issue of Professional Pilot and there was an article about fuel costs affecting the flying of corporate flight departments. One pilot wrote in saying his company had purchased JetA for $6.10/gal recently! WTF!?! I'm curious if the bubble is about to burst on the economy. When an increase of $<2.00/bbl of oil drops the DOW by over 200 points, I don't think we're headed in the right direction. When gas prices are on the rise and slowly are returning to the $3.00/gal level, we're not looking so hot. I think a recession is right around the corner...I'm glad we bought a VW that gets 30+mpg...

~wheelsup
 
mach77 said:
So, which one of us is going to grow some balls and put a bottom to this hole. I'll be the first one in line. The guys at my Co. had enough self respect to vote down a 1% pay raise because we felt the message was worth more than the .50 cents/hr.
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Your company isn't bankrupt. They showed a mega profit. Totally different ball came, bud.

Plus the "guys at your company" also voted for the same payrate for anything up to 99 seats. We all, (not me really, I wasn't there then, but I still came to work here) at every airline, have caved to management. No one is better than anyone else...and unfortunately there isn't anything we can do it about it right now. If/when the airlines show profits, then we can talk raises...
 
mach77 said:
Your right they do have jobs, in fact they probably have two jobs, like me. I don't know about you but i would like to make a living in my chosen profession.

I bet upper management took the same concessions. :sarcasm:
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Well I chose to leave it.

I can see I made the right move.

As for the question as to where the bottom is, well there will be no bottom as long as starry eyed school kids get sucked in to schools like PanAm, Communist Air alias DeltaConnectionAcademy, RAA and the like.

There's just too much money being made out there preying on the dreams of the masses.
 
Kingairer said:
Why should pilots continue to subsidize rediclous airfares and bad managment?
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Do you really think raising fares, even if done universally, would have a positive impact on our lives? I don't believe so; I think if that happened the "southwest-type" passenger would not fly (except on southwest!). The feeders' flying would be cut left and right, IMO. No pax=no flying=no jobs!

It would be good for the airline industry as a whole, however, and by the time I make it there maybe it would be something worth staying for :)!
 
mach77 said:
So, which one of us is going to grow some balls and put a bottom to this hole. I'll be the first one in line. The guys at my Co. had enough self respect to vote down a 1% pay raise because we felt the message was worth more than the .50 cents/hr.
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I bet all of us look really small from up there on your high horse.

The word came down from the big D in ATL. Delta, more or less, told the pilot group that if they did not lower the pay scale to x amount, then they would give that flying to other "Connection" carriers and Comair would essentially become a ground services company. Would they really, I dunno but they seemed to be positioning for it. Both options to the pilots sucked but purhaps they chose the lesser of two evils.

It's easy to judge when you're sitting on the outside looking in with no pressure on yourself. I dunno what company you work for but the new pay scale is probably on par or higher than your own.
 
wheelsup said:
I'm curious if the bubble is about to burst on the economy. When an increase of $<2.00/bbl of oil drops the DOW by over 200 points, I don't think we're headed in the right direction. When gas prices are on the rise and slowly are returning to the $3.00/gal level, we're not looking so hot. I think a recession is right around the corner...I'm glad we bought a VW that gets 30+mpg...
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What the hell are you talking about? The President says our economy is strong!
 
wheelsup said:
Do you really think raising fares, even if done universally, would have a positive impact on our lives? I don't believe so; I think if that happened the "southwest-type" passenger would not fly (except on southwest!). The feeders' flying would be cut left and right, IMO. No pax=no flying=no jobs!
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Well, when you've got 80+ percent load factors, you can start to play with it. Say you lose ten percent of your pax but you increase revenue by 15 percent. Hmmm, guess what? You're making more money. And guess what else? Your CSRs and FAs are actually able to do something for the pax, which means the ones you want to keep are going to pay more to stay with you.

Remember the story about United I posted? They said we're not cutting pillow on flights, we're not going to charge you for a soda, and we may not be the cheapest option on all flights. So be it. Those of you who only care about low, low prices, go fly a different airline. Those of you who are willing to pay a few bucks more for extra legroom and creature comforts on our flights, come on down.
 
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