Re: Will it come to blows?

Originally posted by binx
“You’re paid more because you fly a bigger airplane,” he said, adding that “the responsibilities of a jet pilot with the latest technology and 150 to 250 passengers in the back are greater than flying a [18-seat] Beech 1900 from Sault Ste. Marie to Toronto.”

Boy he contradicts himself here. First he says he should be paid more because he flies a bigger plane then he says it’s because he has more responsibility. The responsibility of flying at 18,000′ is no different if you have 100 people sitting behind you or 10. What about all those cargo pilots flying a 747 filled with boxes and letters? By his logic they should get paid dirt as their level of responsibility isn’t as great as his flying 150 people around. The responsibility of operating an aircraft safely that has no autopilot, FMS, ACARS and rarely climbs above the weather is a lot harder than watching the computer fly and navigate your way across the map.

In Canada, the United States or Europe, he said, regional airlines are like the American Hockey League. “That’s where you earn your wings and that’s where you build your hours and that’s where you make a name for yourself,” he said. “Should you do a good job . . . on the farm team, then you get picked up by the NHL team and you get to fly the bigger airplanes.”

And we should thank GOD himself that we should be so lucky as to fly next to you. Drop the “holier than thou” attitude there buddy. The days of treating the “regional” airlines as a stepping stone are over. The CRJ and ERJ are replacing 737’s and MD80’s on routes. The same mission should equal the same pay.

“If they wanted to pay pilots according to landings and takeoffs, the guys who are flying up north in the bush would be making far more than we are,” he said. “That’s not a recognized way of deciding how you should be paid in the airline industry.”

In other words, “I don’t want to see anything implimented that would not put me at the pinicle of the pay scale nor do I want to see other pilots get paid more than I did when I was doing that job.”

“The company wanted to set one group of its employees against the other and get them into a bidding war,” he said. “And, of course, the only people that win in that is the company, because you bid lower and lower and lower to fly the aircraft.”

Bingo! All professional pilots should be paid in line with the major airlines. Not as much as the major airlines, just in line with them. A first year major airline first officer shouldn’t make more than a 10 year captain at a regional. Bring up the captains pay. If the line was blurred between the regional and major airline pay scales then all this bickering over who flies what would be a moot point. The measure of a pilot isn’t the size of his aircraft, it’s the job that he does and how well he does it. I’ve met some awesome Lear and Citation pilots who get paid as much as 757 captains and they have no more than 3 people in the back at any given time. It’s the mission not the machine.

Nevertheless, conflict aside, Mr. Johnson also acknowledged that, in the end, there isn’t much to choose from between flying a 747 and flying a Dash 8. “Once the thing is pushed back from the gate, except for the number of throttles you have in your hand, there’s not much difference,” he said.

Except those pilots in the Dash 8 are worried that their electricity bill payment won’t clear the bank. 😉

All the officers other than Darth Vader on the Death Star in Star Wars had British accents. I have to agree that most every villian will have a British accent. It just goes to show our fear of proper English. 😀

The EMB-170/175 are very smart looking aircraft.

Originally posted by Mark L
It’s a JS41 I think. Looks weird in United colours, I’m much more used to seeing them in white.
I though United were getting rid of their Jetstreams?

This Junkstream is operated by ACA, Atlantic Coast Airlines, out of Washington Dulles. They still operate the J41’s for now but that could change in the next few months as their agreement with United is finalized. ACA parked their J32’s about a year and a half ago

I’m sure the big relief for a smaller fleet type is the lower wages. As with nearly all airlines, the smaller the plane the smaller the pay. By dividing up the pilot group into 2 pay scales will allow for a break in labor costs. Adding the A318 wouldn’t have done that as most common type rating aircraft are paid the same.

Jetblue is making a killing due to the fact that they are paying very little for their A320 fleet. They got a great deal on financing with their maintenance paid for the first 5 years. I’ve read plenty of articles quoting those factors as being the biggest single reason they can perform so well. Of course they’ll have tons of money in their pocket when they’re spending very little to maintain their fleet.

I’m sure being the launch customer will pay off hugh by being given a big ol’ discount on the aircraft costs. I know Continental Express was given a hugh discount on the EMB-145 when we were the launch customers for that back in ’96. From what I’ve been told, our cost per mile is well under any competitor to the point were they can’t compete on some routes thanks to the cheap aircraft. Jetblue could be untouchable for a while.

Another big factor is the most senior person at their company has only about 4-5 years there. Being that airline industry pay is based upon years of service, Jetblue is paying very little for labor as their entire company is very junior. Give it another 5-10 years and they’ll see that start chipping into their bottom dollar.

My brother just graduated with his masters in CIS and has been on the job hunt in the US for quite awhile. Jobs aren’t nearly as plentiful as they were about 3 years ago. The good jobs are even harder to come by if not impossible.

Moggy, the rules are the same in the land of the FAA as they seem to be world of JAR. If as you said, the airport and the pilots are out in the middle of no-where then sometimes options aren’t as plenty when it comes to safety as you’ve said. The FAA has a Safety Pilot provision for certain circumstances where neither pilot is an instructor. Perhaps the JAR rules have something similar. I don’t know if that would fill your need.

I guess, get an instructor to spend an hour or so of his time to fly around the patch and that would meet everyone’s needs. Buy him/her lunch and you’ll have very few instructors pass up that offer. Flight time and a meal? Bonus! 😀