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On 12/20/2002 10:25:00 PM Tango-Bravo wrote:
"With all due respect to RJ drivers and the fine job they do...
How long will they go on working for apprentice wages when the reality hits home that their apprenticeship has become more of a dead-end than the stepping-stone (to a mainline "real" job) they thought it would be? The irony to me is that it seems RJ drivers are putting themselves out of the mainline jobs for which they are willing to serve a low-paid apprenticeship by their very willingness to do so. As I recall, was this not a central issue of the Comair pilots strike?"
What do you propose? Negotiate a higher wage? Wow, what a concept. That might be hard though. After all it isn/t a "real" job, so it probably doesn/t deserve a "real" wage. Maybe the regionals could demand a better wage if their productivity wasn/t controlled by others. Don/t get me wrong, I understand the need for SCOPE agreements and I agree 100% with the reasoning, but you/ll have a hard time convincing me that it isn/t a factor itself in keeping regional pay rates low.
One other thing, I bet in a couple years this will all be moot. I think as the mainline pilots are forced to loosen their SCOPE grip by current economic realities and the RJ fleets expand, the regional pay scales will start to come closer to mainline. Especially when it looks like, at least in the short term, mainline pay scales will be stagnating and/or actually dropping.
"And one more question on the subject of RJs...
How long before ATC puts its foot down about the majors' seeming obsession with putting 3 RJ flights into congested airways and hub airports when 1 737 can do the same job?"
Wow, that/s a blast from the past. I haven/t heard that argument for a couple years now.
It just doesn/t seem like congestion is really a giant concern at the moment. In fact it has suddenly become such a non-issue that there was talk of delaying the ORD expansion project because the extra capacity was no longer needed. Just a personal observation, the taxiways do not seem nearly as clogged as they once were. I don/t know what exactly to attribute that to, although the airport I work at has been "depeaked". Also, I think the ATC guys are a little more worried about their own jobs and privatization right at the moment.
One last thing, I, and my checkbook, do not really like being the low cost alternative to mainline. However, when it comes to negotiating contracts, the deck is truly stacked against us. The company tries to do all it can to keep our wages subpar and mainline tries to keep us so inefficient that we barely make money. (Again, I understand why)
Times may be a'changin though. I just read the APA's "It's Time - One Airline" proposal. It seems they figure, "If you can/t beat 'em, make them join you"
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