The fact is it is the work, not the business model. We sell A&P labor on heavy turbine aircraft, Does Exxon alter the price oif fuel based upon the business model or profitability of the consumer?
Good point - with some very minor variations, the price of jet fuel, on any given day, is the same no matter where in the world it is purchased. Nevertheless, you aren't arguing that all holders of A&P tickets be paid the same, no matter their employer or where they live, are you? That's basically the problem at AA right now - and that leads to higher pay in some parts of the country and ridiculously lower pay in other parts, like where you live. AA's current $33.28/hr (or whatever the actual number is - I used AA's number) is about 10% lower than jetBlue's top rate, and that makes no sense.
There have been a lot of news articles lately that gasoline prices are not uniform across the US. In fact, they're significantly cheaper right now in OK and TX than they are in CA or NYC (where current prices are very high). There are several reasons for that - including the transportation costs to move gasoline from the areas where it's refined to the areas where many more people live (the Northeast and the west coast). We all know that real estate prices are higher in many parts of the country that are not OK or TX. Auto insurance and real property taxes tend to be low in those two states. Lots of things tend to be cheaper in those two states.
So should every A&P holder employed by AA make the same money no matter where they live? I'd argue that the correct answer is "no," as those who like living in the low-cost areas (OK and TX) are willing to work for less money. Not because they have no self-respect or are lousy union men and women, but because even the current pay affords them a superior lifestyle in their region of the US. Of course, there's no argument that the exact same wage (paid to the NYC AMTs) affords them an inferior standard of living in NYC, where prices are very high compared to OK and TX. Same thing in BOS or CHI or MIA or PHL or WAS or SAN or SFO or other higher-cost parts of the country.
Yes, you all sell labor on heavy turbine aircraft. But as we've discussed, some of your coworkers face competition from ultra-low-cost providers. That would be your coworkers in OK and TX, many of whom perform scheduled maintenance that, because of the mobile nature of the airplanes, can be performed virtually anywhere in the world with runways and hangar space and a workforce that possesses some wrenches and manuals. For good or bad, that competition is located in places where men and women are willing to work for a mere fraction of what you're willing to accept. That's the nature of C checks and heavy C checks. Those can be performed almost anywhere in the world.
The work that AA's AMTs perform in NYC generally must be performed in NYC, so the plane can be airworthy the next morning or in 30 minutes or less or ASAP. Same story in all the other big cities. That's the nature of line maintenance. It has to done in the big cities where the airplanes are. There is no option to fly the plane to SAL or HKG or SIN to perform line maintenance. You in NYC don't really provide the same exact same service to AA as most of the guys in OK or TX.
The bottom line is that most of the AMTs in OK and TX do not provide the same service to AA that the line mechanics do. They tend to perform routine, scheduled maintenance and those on the line perform as-needed maintenance (plus the routine checks that are more economical to perform at the line stations).
So how to solve the problem? Get released, go on strike until AA raises the top pay for A&P ticket holders to $45/hr or more? I don't see that happening as long as everyone in OK and TX gets to tag along for the ride. AA ain't going to pay those in OK or TX that kind of money when AA knows that many in OK or TX will do what they do for $10/hr to $15/hr less than $45/hr. Thing is, except for WN and UPS (the outliers), every other big commercial airline's A&Ps currently make between almost $33/hr (UA) and $36.65/hr (B6) with CO close behind B6. Everyone is within an approximate 10% band. That's a smaller price variation than the domestic gasoline situation, where prices vary by almost a dollar right now depending on location. That's a much smaller variation that the disparity between pilot and flight attendant pay - where those near the top (AA) currently get more than 25% more than those near the bottom (US).
I don't know how you will solve that dilemma. I know how UA, NW and DL did it.
