- Sep 2, 2002
- 64
- 21
I am posting the following letter which has been forwarded already to USAPA reps and other boards. I welcome fellow pilots questions, critical discussions and ideas. I feel we are in a very unique position to have a system put in place like this now that will not harm anyone's current pay and would greatly benefit ALL pilots here at US Airways. Looking forward to the debate...
A fair, balanced and rational idea for all of our pilots.
Fellow pilots, I would like to propose a different approach to all of the challenges we already have and will face here in our careers at US Airways and beyond. I will fore-go the detailed history we all have endured here for the past 20 plus years. But looking back it is clear the old approach to pilot pay and career advancement has let most of us down. Thanks to terrible business decisions, inept leadership, sour economy and 9/11, just to name a few influences, we as a pilot group have suffered great economic loss and continue to do so now. As we re-group with new union elections, a continued ridiculous battle for seniority fairness and a new contract, I believe the time is ripe to consider a paradigm shift in our approach to pilot pay.
I am proposing we consider a pay system based solely on Length of Service (LOS). It is not something completely new. Other carriers such as UPS. BA and others use this with no issues. I believe eliminating the differences pay and closing seat pay gaps will help ALL of our pilots, Jr. and senior, east and west, achieve a fair and balanced compensation for the remainder of our careers. We have a system in place right now that creates a group of haves and have-nots, fosters ill will between groups all wanting the same limited access to the top pay "golden ticket", and is the driving force behind union dis-unity. I believe we are in a unique situation right now that could allow implementation of such a system due to the fact we are so out of whack with our current pay rates, and also facing the possibility of having a court ram the Nic down our throats. Regardless of whether we prevail with DOH or not, a LOS pay system will help all of our pilots who came into this career expecting to pay dues at the beginning, advance to wide bodies and left seat and be fairly compensated all the way to retirement. Reality is this, there will be NO internal growth allowing career progression. Only mergers and retirement attrition will allow movement to higher paying positions under our current system. In fact there could be even more downsizing ahead. I am not smart enough a number cruncher to have all of the answers but consider the following points and look at your own careers and see if you agree with me that taking apart our old approach to pay would not benefit you.
I propose LOS pay with a reducing difference between left and right seat pay as the LOS increases ( i.e. the gap between L/R seat would be a slight override, say 10% vs. the 45% plus we have now) and allow a slight override for Int'l trips and holiday pay.
--LOS pay would take away the need to chase seats at the detriment to your lifestyle. Pay based solely on the amount of years you work here allows you to bid any equipment, base etc, simply based on your lifestyle. It would benefit commuters who now travel to reserve, older pilots who have to fly long haul and senior pilots who have to bid low positions just for the better pay. UPS and BA have their most senior pilots flying mostly narrow body short trips and the Jr pilots doing Int'l wide body flying. I don't know about you, but the best time to fly time zone long haul is when I'm young, not flying to 65. Take a look at pilot mortality rates after retirement. I believe it is healthier to not be forced to fly something just to make pay.
--LOS protects pilots during downturns and seasonal schedule changes. It also takes away a weapon management has used against us. With LOS we don't care if they buy Baby Busses, 172's or Space Shuttles. We are skilled, trained, experienced professionals. Pay me for those skills regardless what you want flown.
--LOS protects against outside forces such as the Nic. I am a Jan '89 hire, was furloughed one year in 2003, returned to start MidAtlantic in 2004 and have trained and typed on every aircraft we fly except the A-330. Thanks to outside forces I am looking at having every West pilot, including the 2005 new-hires, jump ahead of me and take higher pay positions under our current system. Now I am all about fighting the Nic, but one thing I have learned is once Judges, Lawyers and Jury's get involved, you are no longer in total control of your own career. LOS takes away any loss from a Nic type seniority merger.
--LOS is fair. It has always amazed me that we have such difference in pay between pilots. The lucky few who had the timing to catch all the right waves and get fast upgrades and wide bodies are paid two and three times the last pilots on board who just got in line at the wrong time. It can be argued that those very few top pay positions are supplemented by the much lower pay of others. It doubly amazes me we have such an emphasis on the few top pay seats when: 1) here at US Air we don't have but a few wide bodies to go around, and 2) the old line of " don't worry...you will get there someday" simply does not happen here anymore. There will be NO internal growth for the foreseeable future, only attrition. We all know there is not one bit of difference between any one of our pilots skills, training, etc. There should not be any difference in how those pilots are paid. Even the huge difference between left seat/ right seat can change. Once a pilot has been hired, trained, and gained experience and type ratings, the gap between the two seats pay should narrow. Yes, the Capt. has the ultimate responsibility for everything and should have increased compensation for that. But I believe a fair and balanced approach is more like a 10% difference, not the large difference we have now.
Talk about working for unity...if there are no more haves and have-not's...no more old dogs and Jr. angry pilots...we could bring this entire pilot group together for the first time to fight against the real foes out there and achieve the airline and career we all have wanted since we first grabbed the stick here.
I am sure there are many who will disagree with me and want to stay with the old system. Some will argue it can't be done...cost too much...whatever. I am just a dumb fighter pilot when it comes to numbers and I am hoping others will take a look at this idea and crunch numbers better than I ever could. But consider the fact that due to our extreme low pay right now, we have the ability to build a fair LOS pay system that would still raise ALL pilots pay. Yes the top seats would probably not gain as much under this system, but...they would still gain regardless, and they have been receiving the top pay all along while the rest have endured much lower pay rates. My simple military mind looks at it like this. Under our old system we have rates in mind for each seat in a new contract, and that total package costs X per year. Taking that same X piece of the pie we can build LOS scales for Capt. and F/O that closes the gap between left and right seat as the years increase and produces a fair and well compensated rate for all.
In closing ,I strongly feel this is a much better approach to pilot pay for all of us. It takes away the huge income differences, which takes away the in-fighting to get the golden ticket, which takes away the weapons for management to hammer us with, which takes away pilot dis-unity. It allows for a pilot to only bid for lifestyle needs, not be affected by outside forces and mergers, be protected from downturns and receive a fair and generous compensation for his skills and experience based on his /her time with the company.
I am contacting my USAPA reps and requesting formal motions for the union to explore this option and hope you join me in it's support.
Fraternally,
Ward Motz
A-320 F/O
PHL
A fair, balanced and rational idea for all of our pilots.
Fellow pilots, I would like to propose a different approach to all of the challenges we already have and will face here in our careers at US Airways and beyond. I will fore-go the detailed history we all have endured here for the past 20 plus years. But looking back it is clear the old approach to pilot pay and career advancement has let most of us down. Thanks to terrible business decisions, inept leadership, sour economy and 9/11, just to name a few influences, we as a pilot group have suffered great economic loss and continue to do so now. As we re-group with new union elections, a continued ridiculous battle for seniority fairness and a new contract, I believe the time is ripe to consider a paradigm shift in our approach to pilot pay.
I am proposing we consider a pay system based solely on Length of Service (LOS). It is not something completely new. Other carriers such as UPS. BA and others use this with no issues. I believe eliminating the differences pay and closing seat pay gaps will help ALL of our pilots, Jr. and senior, east and west, achieve a fair and balanced compensation for the remainder of our careers. We have a system in place right now that creates a group of haves and have-nots, fosters ill will between groups all wanting the same limited access to the top pay "golden ticket", and is the driving force behind union dis-unity. I believe we are in a unique situation right now that could allow implementation of such a system due to the fact we are so out of whack with our current pay rates, and also facing the possibility of having a court ram the Nic down our throats. Regardless of whether we prevail with DOH or not, a LOS pay system will help all of our pilots who came into this career expecting to pay dues at the beginning, advance to wide bodies and left seat and be fairly compensated all the way to retirement. Reality is this, there will be NO internal growth allowing career progression. Only mergers and retirement attrition will allow movement to higher paying positions under our current system. In fact there could be even more downsizing ahead. I am not smart enough a number cruncher to have all of the answers but consider the following points and look at your own careers and see if you agree with me that taking apart our old approach to pay would not benefit you.
I propose LOS pay with a reducing difference between left and right seat pay as the LOS increases ( i.e. the gap between L/R seat would be a slight override, say 10% vs. the 45% plus we have now) and allow a slight override for Int'l trips and holiday pay.
--LOS pay would take away the need to chase seats at the detriment to your lifestyle. Pay based solely on the amount of years you work here allows you to bid any equipment, base etc, simply based on your lifestyle. It would benefit commuters who now travel to reserve, older pilots who have to fly long haul and senior pilots who have to bid low positions just for the better pay. UPS and BA have their most senior pilots flying mostly narrow body short trips and the Jr pilots doing Int'l wide body flying. I don't know about you, but the best time to fly time zone long haul is when I'm young, not flying to 65. Take a look at pilot mortality rates after retirement. I believe it is healthier to not be forced to fly something just to make pay.
--LOS protects pilots during downturns and seasonal schedule changes. It also takes away a weapon management has used against us. With LOS we don't care if they buy Baby Busses, 172's or Space Shuttles. We are skilled, trained, experienced professionals. Pay me for those skills regardless what you want flown.
--LOS protects against outside forces such as the Nic. I am a Jan '89 hire, was furloughed one year in 2003, returned to start MidAtlantic in 2004 and have trained and typed on every aircraft we fly except the A-330. Thanks to outside forces I am looking at having every West pilot, including the 2005 new-hires, jump ahead of me and take higher pay positions under our current system. Now I am all about fighting the Nic, but one thing I have learned is once Judges, Lawyers and Jury's get involved, you are no longer in total control of your own career. LOS takes away any loss from a Nic type seniority merger.
--LOS is fair. It has always amazed me that we have such difference in pay between pilots. The lucky few who had the timing to catch all the right waves and get fast upgrades and wide bodies are paid two and three times the last pilots on board who just got in line at the wrong time. It can be argued that those very few top pay positions are supplemented by the much lower pay of others. It doubly amazes me we have such an emphasis on the few top pay seats when: 1) here at US Air we don't have but a few wide bodies to go around, and 2) the old line of " don't worry...you will get there someday" simply does not happen here anymore. There will be NO internal growth for the foreseeable future, only attrition. We all know there is not one bit of difference between any one of our pilots skills, training, etc. There should not be any difference in how those pilots are paid. Even the huge difference between left seat/ right seat can change. Once a pilot has been hired, trained, and gained experience and type ratings, the gap between the two seats pay should narrow. Yes, the Capt. has the ultimate responsibility for everything and should have increased compensation for that. But I believe a fair and balanced approach is more like a 10% difference, not the large difference we have now.
Talk about working for unity...if there are no more haves and have-not's...no more old dogs and Jr. angry pilots...we could bring this entire pilot group together for the first time to fight against the real foes out there and achieve the airline and career we all have wanted since we first grabbed the stick here.
I am sure there are many who will disagree with me and want to stay with the old system. Some will argue it can't be done...cost too much...whatever. I am just a dumb fighter pilot when it comes to numbers and I am hoping others will take a look at this idea and crunch numbers better than I ever could. But consider the fact that due to our extreme low pay right now, we have the ability to build a fair LOS pay system that would still raise ALL pilots pay. Yes the top seats would probably not gain as much under this system, but...they would still gain regardless, and they have been receiving the top pay all along while the rest have endured much lower pay rates. My simple military mind looks at it like this. Under our old system we have rates in mind for each seat in a new contract, and that total package costs X per year. Taking that same X piece of the pie we can build LOS scales for Capt. and F/O that closes the gap between left and right seat as the years increase and produces a fair and well compensated rate for all.
In closing ,I strongly feel this is a much better approach to pilot pay for all of us. It takes away the huge income differences, which takes away the in-fighting to get the golden ticket, which takes away the weapons for management to hammer us with, which takes away pilot dis-unity. It allows for a pilot to only bid for lifestyle needs, not be affected by outside forces and mergers, be protected from downturns and receive a fair and generous compensation for his skills and experience based on his /her time with the company.
I am contacting my USAPA reps and requesting formal motions for the union to explore this option and hope you join me in it's support.
Fraternally,
Ward Motz
A-320 F/O
PHL
