Ultralight

Sure its not taxable income, but its still money. In fact a dollar of per diem is worth more than a dollar of regular income because its tax free. Minimum wage in Arizona is $7.80. If you did an average 40 hour week thats $16,224 a year. I've seen people throw around the idea of working at Mcdonalds or Lowes to make more money. You won't. Sure first year pay sucks at the regionals but its the first rung of the ladder, just like any other career.

What grinds my bones is that if your carrier goes under, furloughs etc you have to start at the bottom all over again. Does a heart surgeon become an intern again just because he moves to a different hospital? I get the whole seniority thing, but experience and timed served should be taken into consideration.

What Per Diem does Eagle pay, $1.80 an hour? Thats $43.20 a day. About two thirds of a days pay at minimum wage.

PilotJ3

I'm already buying a house, alone. It is hard? Yes, can I live with that, yes. Do my significant other makes more than me? No. Like Rick86, I started my 401k in the last quarter and already have $1,500 and growing.

Nothing is impossible in this life. Again, I don't work as much as I can and still make ok for second year.

Generally speaking, people complain and whine too much. Btw, I voted no in our TA.

embraer

Funny how it's in all my paychecks....and I spend maybe 10% of it on trips. What are they putting in the water over in Arlington these days, Mojo?

I have noticed most of the cynical "know it alls" here on APC don't even work for Eagle. Those of us who do are more than happy.

I know personally I come home every week happy and proud of my career choice. Sorry some of you out there are so miserable. The rest of us are doing just fine.

mojo6911

It sucks, but really, I haven't seen anyone propose a better way of doing it.

Who said you have to be miserable when you work at an airline? I think their compensation package is about the same/better than most regionals, which sucks, given the responsibility. (But they all do) The only negative things I have posted about Eagle are about their facebook recruiting page. I can't really comment about anything else, operationally.

If you like eating ham sandwiches on the road, then that is up to you, but I think it is disingenuous to argue that your per diem is part of your compensation.

babs

Just an educated guess. American Eagle's new name will be Executive Airlines...not that anyone really cares.

The Chow

Mojo,

One of the Delta guys had a good idea and that was to stop paying based on seniority. Instead, FO's at one rate and captains at another rate. No national seniority lists and no more problems with longevity.

TC

mojo6911

Got anymore details? I would be interested in seeing it. How would you manage upgrades, scheduling and the like?

buddies8

sounds good, f/o's at first year narrow body and captain at 12th year widebody.
since no seniority, kiss ups get upgraded, call in sick and you stay as an f/o for two more years, write up an aircraft back to the right seat you go. yeap sign me up.

Crawl

Maybe just a few flaws with that model, but I do think an adjustment to the way we are compensated would be worth investigating.

Also, Copa's hiring... (that's how they pay)

I'd argue that the margin of difference between year 1 FO pay and year 12 CAPT pay should be narrower, but modest yearly raises to reward longevity should be maintained. In other words, it shouldn't start out so low, but then the tradeoff is, it doesn't get as high...

Red Forman

He said stop paying based on seniority. You would still use seniority for reserve, lines, vacation, etc.