Compensation by block hour is only part of the total compensation package.
A few years ago when AA’s CEO released to the public he wanted to pay his senior (12yr+ 787 CA) in the ball park of $500/hr the public was like aghast the pilots didn’t jump all over it.
I know I’m partially preaching to the choir, but airline CBA pay is very different than most pay structures in the rest of working society.
5 min. breakdown on “soft pay” (where the real money is made)
Case in point: most airlines have a “rig” type pay. You either block a minimum of (say 5 hours for a day) or get that bump up if you under block. This forces the company to construct pairings that utilize the crew efficiently. (My last 3-day trip had 23 minutes of rig pay).
Nearly all of us bigger airline types are well in the 2%, or top 1% of wage earners. What sets apart a DL, AA, UA 737 or 320 CA is the soft pay.
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United’s minimum monthly guarantee is 70 hours. Multiply year 2CAx70hr MMGx12 months= $278,997.
Pretty damned good given these economic times.
Well that’s not the whole picture. Next comes knowing the contract.
In the case of United, a 2nd yr CA will be on reserve. All of reserve is a long-call. You can elect to convert yourself to short call prior to your reserve period. Each incurs 1hr of additional pay regardless if you are used. Another provision can get you 2hrs added.
Little things like this will now get you to 80-85-90+ hours of pay, without even touching the jet.
This is where you go from being a 2%er to a 1%er.
Delta used to have the best CBA.
United is by far the best.
AA is barely better than the ULCC’s.
The devil is in the details.