Race To The Bottom?

[herkav8r]

I was talking to another fellow furloughed pilot that flies for Jet Blue. He said they lost 27 pilots to SouthWest recently. They left because of the Low salary at JB. He said that he would actually consider coming back to United if it survived.

Once the industry settles down wages are going to have to start to come back up if companies want to retain good employees. A decent salary is cheaper than training costs.

 

[Dizel8]

While not disputing your friends info, the seniority list does not support the statement.

 

[jimntx]

Once the industry settles down wages are going to have to start to come back up if companies want to retain good employees. A decent salary is cheaper than training costs.

[post="197094"][/post]​

Don't bet on it. There are always people out there willing to do the job for less--particularly if they view it as a job in a series of jobs rather than as a career choice. As low as the flight attendant salaries are at some of the charters and LCCs, their job fair open houses are always packed.

There are still trained pilots coming out of the military year in and year out; so, there is a steady supply of candidates. To someone who's been in the military for years, a salary of $75,000-$90,000/yr probably looks pretty good.And, a 45 year old guy with a full military pension doesn't "need" to make as much from a private industry job.

 

[herkav8r]

That salary does not look that good to a military person. Back in the mid 90's I was pulling down 7K a month tax free stationed in Germany and now a Major on the Bonus program is making 90 plus. That is an estimate.

The draw to go commericial is rapidly vanishing. Don't bank on the military for the surplus it used to provide.

 

[Skyhungry]

<_< As always someone starts spewing information as if they are an expert. The fact is military pilots make a lot more than people think. And they deserve every penny of it, if not more. As for those who are willing to work for low wages, well that will always happen. They have their reasons. Even though the military is not for everyone I’m willing to bet that the majority of the military pilots are not willing to leave for the privilege of working for Jetblue. I’m not knocking Jetblues service or its employees. I’m just stating the fact that compared to the military or even most other airlines their wages are low. Not to mention their proposed E jet wages are in my opinion very, very low. Again, just my opinion. B)

 

[mrfish3726]

Why does anyone want to criticize anyone that has done his or her duty for the good OLD USA?

Kind of reminds me of a time in INDY at the IMC (UniTED) on a Veterans Day. At the end of the briefing this super that HAD NEVER been in the military said "You know Veterans Day isn't a paid holiday for the company, so I don't want you treating it like a holiday."

The room got deafly quiet, because over three quarters of the room were VETS. MYSELF included, I told him that what he just said was totally out of line. He later apologized to everyone that he offended. If you haven’t done your duty for OUR country, then SHUT IT.

I have a lot more respect for the pilots that have done their time in places like Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, and anywhere else they have dedicated their services to the country. College boy pilots are on the END of that list.

 

[Winglet]

A decent salary is cheaper than training costs.

[post="197094"][/post]​

While that makes a tasty sound bite, it's not true. Training is dirt cheap compared to good pay and benefits. As an example, several of the 747 freighter outfits could care less if their FOs stay more than a couple of years. When major airline hiring was going on, may outfits had 25% a year and greater turnover in FOs. Management was perfectly satisfied with that. During the recent recall at the commuter, American Eagle, only 9 of 98 furloughed FOs came back. AMR management was perfectly ok with that, too. Training may cost $10-15k, so that's more than made up for in future higher pay. Another benefit is that you keep a significant percentage of your workforce new, just happy to have a job, and ignorant/timid of the labor problems in the company. They couldn't care less about experience . . . . a weak FO is the Captain's problem. They know as long as they have decent Captains trapped by age and unable to leave to start over somewhere else, FO inexperience not a serious issue.

As a pilot, you need to realize that you're not a "professional." Except for whatever protections that your union provides you are little more than day labor. As long as people are willing to flood into the piloting vocation like they are, they'll be willing to work for less and less. Not much different than picking crops, really.

 

[Fubijaakr]

As a pilot, you need to realize that you're not a "professional." Except for whatever protections that your union provides you are little more than day labor. As long as people are willing to flood into the piloting vocation like they are, they'll be willing to work for less and less. Not much different than picking crops, really.

[post="197336"][/post]​

Thank God the FAA does NOT agree with this point of view. That's why training, licenses and type ratings are required to operate passenger and cargo aircraft.