Page 10, Brochure 3
B737/A320 Captains Now Forfeit Over $45,000 Annually for DOH!
Since USAPA was elected almost three years ago, eight other US airlines (shown in Fig. 6) have ratified new pilot labor contracts, all with pay rates well in excess of US Airways. According to analysts, 2010 was one of the most profitable on record. USAPA concedes that a contract is still 18 to 24 months away. Hence, for the second time since the merger, US Airways pilots will remain on bankruptcy wages while the company posts record profits. Will the US Airways pilots profit from this rising tide?
The chart below shows a narrowbody Captain's 2011 annual pay by airline. It also shows the current union as well as the year of the last labor agreement. Numbers are based on 85/hours/month. The JetBlue pay reflects a 50% override on time flown over 78 hours. *The US Airways 1998 contract was modified in 2002 and 2004.
Pilots represented by USAPA make less than Regional and Non-Scheduled Carriers
In recent months. Horizon Air, which is represented by The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), and Air Transport International (ATI), which is represented by ALPA, both ratified new contracts. Their prior pay was already on a par with that of US Airways, and the new rates are sure to be well in excess of those at LCC. Horizon's pre-contract rate was $121/hour for a CRJ-700 Captain, while ATI currently pays a DC-8 Captain $1 58/hour.
If only these were two isolated cases. The sad truth is that the majority of large national, regional and non-scheduled airlines earn far more than the US Airways pilot group. Additional examples include Airborne ($239/hr - B767), Evergreen ($180/hr- B747), Kalitta ($1 76/hr - B747), Atlas ($176/hr- B747), World ($160/hr - MD11), Miami Air ($142/hr- B737), USA3000 ($133/hr- A320), Virgin America ($133/hr - A320) and Sun Country ($127/hr - B737). Even an EMB-170 CPT at US Airways Express carrier Republic makes almost as much as his Group II mainline counterpart: $119/hour. This represents an hourly rate which is $21/hour more than a mainline EMB-190 Captain. The USAPA Negotiation Advisory Committee's (NAC) failure to negotiate a new contract will have an interesting (and negative) effect on contract negotiations at even Regional and Non-scheduled carriers. How can these pilot groups ask for industry-standard rates, when they already earn more than the pilots of the fifth-largest passenger airline in the country? The inability of the NAC and its "Professional Negotiator" to negotiate even the smallest improvement is no longer negatively affecting just the US Airways pilot group, but it is now holding back an entire industry.
The "Kirby Proposal," offered by management on May 8th, 2007, was a comprehensive proposition that demonstrated the company's willingness to complete negotiations. [Addington transcripts, Dotter - day 2, Stephan - day 6]
Contrary to USAPA propaganda, the Kirby proposal is unacceptable to the West, The Kirby proposal is unacceptable for Pay and Benefits, unacceptable for Work Rules, and absolutely unacceptable for Scope. Kirby proposed a Group II CA rate of $152. The JNC proposed $173. If the East contingent to the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) had not walked out, "close out" negotiations would likely have yielded a compromise around $162, which approximates the New Delta Air Lines rate. East pilots have given up at least a 30% pay increase for nearly three years and continue to give up increases in pay and benefits.