Friday, March 28, 2014

Republic the ball is in your court

Today the pilots of American Eagle Airlines (soon to be Envoy) sent a message to management that they will not work for less.

Management received major concessions from the pilots of American Eagle last year. They came back again demanding more. One demand was to cap First Officer pay at 4 years...$37 an hour....for 10 years. That is equal to $33,000 a year max before taxes, insurance and the rest. One might say "but upgrade time should be lower," meaning no First Officer would hit the 4 year ceiling.  That might have happened.....but aviation is a cyclical industry that is easily affected by the economy. It doesn't take much to slow things down.

Using an inflation calculator and taking the maximum pay of $33,000 in 2014 with a 2% inflation rate one would need to earn $40,000 in 2024 to have the same buying power as today. Of course this wouldn't happen with the demands of management. Additionally no pay negotiations can start until 2023 and can drag out for 5 years. Potentially meaning a $33,000 maximum pay until 2029. Ridiculous.

Management also wanted to lock per diem at $1.80...for 10 years. Per diem is what is used to pay for food on the road. Food in airports isn't getting cheaper.

That's all in the past now. An astounding 92% of the pilots voted and 70% of them voted no.

Republic Airlines pilots were supposed to have their vote close today, but due to a small loophole requiring paper ballots (even though the extreme majority of the pilots vote electronically) their vote won't close until next Friday.

I have no doubt the pilots of Republic Airlines will also vote down their concessionary contract offer.

 

3 comments:

  1. I'm astounded by regional airline salaries. Admittedly I live in the Bay Area where cost of living is high but do they expect people to stay on the line for that kind of money?


    Is this because of supply & demand (more qualified pilots than jobs) or is it airlines forcing costs down?

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  2. Is this a typo??? "per diem at $1.80" That's barely a cup of coffee!!

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  3. That's per hour while on a trip

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