Wrong
B Scale was around before. APA brought it in with the help AMFA lawyer M. Seham before the TWU and not under the threat of BK.
American Airlines adopted the benchmark B-scale in November 1983, permanently reducing pay for newly hired pilots by 50 percent. In fact, under the AA system—negotiated while the Seham firm sat on the labor side of the table—pay rates and pensions for new employees would never merge with those of then-current employees.
Martin Seham wrote proudly of this accomplishment in Cleared for Takeoff: Airline Labor Relations Since Deregulation.
As general counsel to the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the independent certified representative of the American Airlines pilots, I was close to the negotiations that resulted, in 1983, in one of the earliest realization of the two-tier system. APA was not faced with an insolvent or failing carrier; it was, however, forced to deal with an economic environment that had changed dramatically because of the effects of deregulation and was, by virtue of its independence, mandated to reach an agreement consistent with the needs and objectives of its constituency.
—Martin C. Seham
C-Scale? Explain?
SRPs and OSMs, many airlines have had apprentice mechanics and helpers for many years. In fact many airlines didn't even require an A&P until less than 20 years ago. AA had unlicensed AMTs until only recently. Were they substandard workers? No. In fact since we operate under 121 we really don't need A&Ps at all per the FARs.
