Two points.
1) We arent even asking for WN wages, let alone Fed Ex or UPS. Not for the bases, not for the line. Without any evidence to prove that doing OH in house creates a competative disadvantage we are agreeing to give AA a discount on Line Maint and in house OH as long as they keep most of it in house. The company isn't happy with the discount we offered, they are being pigs, they are insisting that we agree to parity or less than parity with carriers that went through BK, are living under terms set in BK and are currently in negotiations for the first time since BK. There is benefit for the line in agreeing to a modest discount compared to WN, and a huge discount compared to UPS such as we get better planes to work on and dont have to worry that since the Feds cant nail that guy in El Salvador for his sloppy work that they will focus on us when the inevitable happens. For the Junior guys keeping the work in house also means they wont have 6000 base mechanics trying to find a place on the line.
2) Our base guys do not work for an MRO, they work for American Airlines. They are Airline workers and they expect to be paid as such. An MRO may pay their mechanics $25/hr but they sell that labor to carriers for much more than that, plus rape them on parts, materials and hours charged. By doing work in house the carrier cuts out the middleman who would earn a profit doing work for the airline. MROs (and LCC, non-scheds etc) were typically training grounds for the mechanics that would end up at airlines, they got away with Low pay because mechanics looked at working for them like doctors look at internships. They put in their time at MROs and LCCs to get the experience required to get to the majors and left. People didnt go to A&P schools so they could work for TIMCOs or AARs, they went there to work for the Pan Ams, Uniteds, and American Airlines. Some landed at the UPS's and Fed-Ex's and got a little more than their Airline counterparts but it wasnt because those carriers were profitable it was because they had to pay more because they did not offer Flight Benefits which, when Airfares were high, were a valuable benefit.
I was recently told the Industry needs 15000 mechanics a year just to maintain current headcount, the FAA certifies a third of that number. The MROs are having trouble getting people and the majors are lowering their experience requirements. At AA its gone from 5 years heavy turbine to zero years. "Just ship it all overseas", well most of the growth in aviation will be overseas, they need to fix their own stuff. "Hire non-license holders"? Yep, they can but the Insurance companies are going to want a lot more to insure your business.
Should the line be paid more than OH? Well I think that certain things need to be considered such as location, shifts and conditions. Location, the fact is that more densiy populated areas provide more opportunity to generate money, so you must have operations in high density locations which tend to be more costly places to live. In the airline industry people who live in low cost areas benifit from the operations that take place in high cost areas so they should not object to a reasonable difference in compensation to allow those who work in the places that generate most of the revenues that are used to pay everyone not the same standard of living but at least a decent standard of living. Its safe to say that there would be no need for Tulsa or DFW (at least as much as there is ) without the revenue generated out of NY, LA, MIA and ORD.There should be a considerable difference in pay between a guy who works days and a guy who works nights. The current differentials across the industry are pitiful and unrealistic. 10% should be the minimum. " Conditions, such as working Holidays, and out in the elements should also be a consideration.
My understanding is that the base guys in Tulsa are agreeable to paying guys more who live in high cost areas but are not agreeable to the guy who may be his next door neighbor with the exact same license working for the same company with the same days off working the same shift getting a $2 an hour bigger increase because he works on the other side of the airport.
