Originally Posted by Whidbey

At least two from my new hire class (2010) have already left and several more are actively interviewing elsewhere.

There is an incredible pay disparity between what we are paid and what our brothers at SWA and FedEx are paid. It's been interesting to watch so many on APC be unwilling to accept that.

Originally Posted by acl65pilot

Yep. Another one of my friends there went to the 380 so he could escape jr capt on the 330 after less than four years mind you. He will be a 380 Capt in two years when his lock is up.

Many of my friends over at EK and other places ran the numbers to come back to a Legacy job. Sadly, it does not compare. They all opted to stay put and are looking at 20+ years there.

I started looking at their package versus ours and a first year FO with tax incentives, housing allowance, education allowance, profit sharing, and medical is looking at a job that would have to pay north of 200K here in the states to come close.
-7900 a month income w/flight pay:tax free
-3900 housing allowance
-About a 1000 dollar a month education allowance.
-All utilities except internet paid for
-about 2000 a month in profit sharing
-42 days of vacation a year
-Annual leave PS ticket for you and your family anywhere EK flies
-15% in to a retirement fund.

That equates to 14800 a month all tax free.

Only thing taxed is income about the 86K limit(After individual EIC deductions), which FO's do not hit and Capt's pay about 1000 a month to Uncle Sam.

It is an impressive package. Of course there are not unions, and the company determines what, when and where you fly. Living in Dubai is also a must. They also wanted to point out that they flew 85 hrs a month, which I laughed at since that is the norm for a line holder here too.


There are many contracts all over the world that pay above 12K a month. A quick internet search shows you they are plentiful.


Point is, this is what our competition is paying their pilots. The total package is impressive and if DAL does not want to see a bunch of guys that are in the dead zone and junior start looking/taking these gigs, they will need to pay significantly more, have organic growth, and provide career progression that is more than just retirements.


I know a few guys that would look at this stuff if they were offered three to five year leaves. (Again, sadly since we should be the pinnacle of the career)

Originally Posted by Jack Bauer

PS- I know you will tell me 100 reasons why it wasn't possible but the Compass fleet should today be piloted by mainline Delta pilots. Our pinhead pilots representation flushed that one down the toilet leading to even more stagnation at this shrinking outsourced airline.

Jack Bauer would have seen this as a hostage situation and taken out the perpitrators within the first 5 minutes.

Originally Posted by tsquare

psssssst.. (you have to live in the anus of the earth)

Originally Posted by tsquare

psssssst.. (you have to live in the anus of the earth)

Originally Posted by slowplay

Then there's the math problem that stems from your creation in bankruptcy. The Captain on your flight made a max of $72 per hour. The FO made $37/hr. A Delta MD-88 Captain would make $168/hr, and his FO would make $112/hr. Those pay and longevity disparities go through all work groups. You were also flying a 76 seat jet. The MD-88 holds 142/150, the A-319 pays more on 124 seats, so it's not likely the routes are currently economically operable with a larger aircraft in the timeslots you flew.

Even if you brought that 76 seat jet to mainline the cost disparities continue. A Delta CRJ-900 Captain would receive $116/hr and his FO would get $67/hr. On top of those hourly rates comes 14% DC, and the difference has to be applied to those on reserve as well. I don't know your rigs, but that trip would pay 21 hours on mainline. That's over $1900 difference in direct wages just for pilots on that 4 day trip, and that grossly understates the real labor number.

Compass created a labor arbitrage. Management had the bankruptcy hammer to make it happen. That type of arbitrage is what is killing Comair and is about to hurt SKYW/ASA/Expressjet as they lose 12 airplanes to Gojets. It's all in the longevity. In your segment the "younger" pilot groups are winning.

Originally Posted by tsquare

Wow... they gave it almost 2 years before punching out? Best of luck to them. In 2 or 3 years, ax them if they still made the right decision. I'm betting the answer will be.. uh.. no.

And I don't know of anybody that is "accepting" of the pay disparity.

Originally Posted by 1234

I am curious why you think the company should offer leaves for our pilots to go and fly for a competitor, just long enough so that they can come back with some seniority?

Originally Posted by tsquare

Wow... they gave it almost 2 years before punching out? Best of luck to them. In 2 or 3 years, ax them if they still made the right decision. I'm betting the answer will be.. uh.. no.

And I don't know of anybody that is "accepting" of the pay disparity.

Originally Posted by RockyBoy

They couldn't pay me enough to live in Dubai. I'd rather live in the U.S. and work for minimum wage at a Taco Bell than live in Dubai.