Originally Posted by
Steve M
I know that's the party line from pilots unions and from most pilots themselves. but I don't buy the argument, or really understand it. Does the check-in agent manning the first class line get several times the pay of the one at the coach desk? Does a bus driver driving an articulated bus get twice the pay of one driving a regular bus? Does a train engineer get paid based on the number of cars attached to his engine? Does the First Class flight attendant get several times more pay than the one serving the coach passengers?
It is the standard argument from unions and pilots, but it has also been the status quo for the industry within the US for the past century. That doesn't make it correct, but it is what the current system of pay is based off of which would require a lot of difficulty in changing due to union entrenchment for starters. Just because it is difficult though, doesn't mean it shouldn't be changed. I still side with the pilots/unions however.
Airlines have been running profitably for the past few years, so unless another economic meltdown occurs, I don't think any airline will change this standard of pay. And when it does occur, the first airline to try and change it will receive a lot of flak just as when the first airline changes a policy that isn't passenger friendly (checked baggage fees, no more free meals, etc) but eventually the industry follows.
On the private side of flying (corporate & private aircraft), pay is usually based upon the size of the aircraft without unions being involved. A pilot for a G550 earns more than the pilot of a Citation Excel. Passengers are irrelevant in this case because sometimes there's only 1 on a 19 seat private jet
Without union involvement, that's how the market for private jet pilot pay occurred. The sentiment seems to be the same here. Why? I cannot say for sure.
Norwegian Air Shuttle and a few other airlines are changing that standard however (outside the US at least), and if the market is there, I won't oppose it. It seems there will always be pilots willing to fly for cheaper. I've even heard anecdotally that junior British Airways pilots fly the long haul routes because the senior pilots prefer the schedule of itra-European flights which means the newest pilots are flying the largest aircraft. I don't know if that is true, but it would coincide with your opinion.