Stinky wrote:
If that's the case I think we're about to witness an amazing display of hypocrisy. There are a few hardliners on here that have said it is absolutely unacceptable to accept a wage below industry standard; the standard being Jazz as described by them.
Lets see how quick they are to throw the industry under the bus if it writes their ticket to AC or a left seat at Jazz sooner depending on where they sit on the seniority list.
This could be great for the current Jazz pilots but it will be interesting how it affects the rest of the industry. AC will have essentially done years worth of hiring in one fell swoop. The jobs available will be the newer low paying jobs at Jazz and the other, yet to be named company that will be operating the AC lift that must be replaced. I'm sure that payscale will be even lower. There will be little hope for these pilots to progress beyond the regional level, with the exception of a token few.
Before this turns into some pointless blame game, there are a few things that need to be clarified.
I suppose it's human nature but the first page everyone heads to in a TA is the pay scale ... "how much am I gonna make?" The pay scale is only a part of a much larger package of benefits, per diems, expense payments and work rules that is probably more important than rates of pay.
All aspects of the industry benchmark Jazz collective agreement are INTACT. In fact the agreement is better than before with a 2% increase to all expense amounts and per diem rates, and a 2% increase to the current pay scale every year for the life of the agreement. There are productivity enhancements which will allow pilots the option to work more to earn more.
Yes, there is a new hire pay scale that starts at a lower than ideal rate, but the starting rates are at the bottom of a 20 year long scale of tenure that matches the current rates at the 17 year mark and tops out at $120 per hour. This agreement, if ratified, will provide for at least 900 very good pilot jobs until 2025.
There is no hypocrisy in a pilot group that realized a long time ago that a pilot is a pilot is a pilot and whether you fly an A380 or a 172, if you earn your living flying airplanes, then you deserve to be treated with respect by your employer and your peers.
There is no hypocrisy in a pilot group that has fought long and hard and has been willing to risk it all by taking strike action 3 times in the last 28 years to establish and maintain the benchmark collective agreement for "regional" pilots.
I think we just put the brakes on the bus.
