Rolex,
How much are you paid?
I'm guessing as much as you can convince your employer(s) to pay you? I'm sure "market rate" figures into it a bit.
How is it any different? The pilots negotiated for as much as they could convince their employer to pay them;"market rate" was a primary factor. That they were successful isn't a reason to castigate them for trying. Should they have asked for far less then their peers at other airlines were already being paid?
Stark is managing up over a billion maybe two, IIRC. He must have some "analyst" ability to do that successfully, don't you think? He is successful.
Pilot responsibility ISN'T an arbitration factor. It's a fact of life. Look around you in the economy. People that do things that get people killed get paid handsomely for their skills if they can do them without killing people. The pilots are indeed the skilled operator specialists of the asset. I think it's evident the skilled operator specialists of extremely expensive machines that can cause huge loss of life if mishandled get well paid in every part of society.
I saw something the other day that the ranking member of the Congressional Commerce sub-committe during the deregulation period recently said that if the members could have seen what the industry looks like today, they would never had voted for deregulation.
I'd say that guy gets the "DUH!" award.
Nonetheless, the industry will survive, will reinvent itself and will become profitable again. At least the airlines with intelligent management will do so. That means probably 50% casualties unless some intelligent managment can be found.
Think Southwest. IIRC, they've lost money in only one year of their existence. Ponder this: Their pilots get essentially the same pay as DAL pilots did before the cut. Fly the same equipment, actually get MORE days off per month BUT the company has managed to schedule so efficiently that SW pilots fly about 5-7 hours more per month than a DAL pilot.
This was pointed out by management in the 2001 negotiation. DAL work rules were compared to SW work rules and management wanted to "cherry pick" the SW contract for rules to put in our contract.
The union offered to accept the current SW contract in toto, not piecemeal.
Management lost interest.
Go figure.
