Originally Posted by
readywhenyouare
The airline industry is cyclical. For me, I'd rather have a steady and predictable salary throughout my career than these peaks and valleys. As it is now, you can expect to be paid like royalty during the good times and in the bad times you'll be lucky to not be furloughed for years.
According to Delta's 2Q2022 quarterly filing, all salaries account for 24% of their operating expenses. The salaries were just shy of $3B and were up 4% from 2019, or $108M. In contrast, fuel was $3.2B, up $932M from 2019.
Within a degree of reason, there's no salary low enough to create a steady state where you won't be laid off. The airline will eventually cancel the flight if they can't make money on it... and with the cancellation comes layoffs. Costs are up 18%, while passenger and cargo revenue are down 3%. Salaries alone can't overcome adverse economic conditions.