M
mjs1987
Guest
I would like to preface this by saying that Republic Airways pays at or above market wages when compared to other regional airlines however it pays 50% less than Jetblue and US Airways in first year wages and less in almost every other year and seat(captain/first officer) for the same aircraft type (Embraer 190).
The CEO of Republic is Bryan Bedford. He is a devout Catholic and created a stir in the media when it came out that he sends his employees emails encouraging them to go to church and sharing his faith with them. He has led Republic from a small regional to one of the largest regionals that is posed to become a major player in the aviation industry with its purchase of Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines. He dissolved Mdwest Airlines operationally and uses Republic Airways and Frontier Airlines aircraft to fly routes under the Midwest banner.
Now, he pays first year first officers at pay rate of $23/hour for 75 hours a month. This equates to $20,700 for the first year. The first officer pay scale tops out at $37/hr for 70 hours pay a month after 4 years. For 35-70 seat regional aircraft, these wages are standard wages and not unusually low for the industry but many would consider it to be unjustly low anyways considering how close to poverty level it is. However, he pays these same wages regardless of aircraft type to first officers. I consider it to be unjust anyways because pilots need to pay $40-60K and in some cases up to $200K (Embry Riddle cost) in order to get the job in addition to the experience needed as instructors and night cargo pilots. However, with the Embraer 190 type, Jetblue starts at $47/hr first year with 75 hours guaranteed pay and tops out at $97/hr with 70 hours guaranteed pay a month after 12 years. US Airways starts E190 FOs at $41/hr with 76 hours guaranteed pay and topping out in 6 years at $52/hour for 72 hours guaranteed pay. For captains, Jetblue pays all of its captains between $120-140K per year depending on years at the company. US Airways, with a 22 year upgrade for pilots before they can make captain on the east side operation, has all their E190 captains topped out at $95/hour for 72 hours guaranteed a month with their 16 year pay scale. For captain, Republic averages 3 years right now at least and growing to upgrade to captain which means Republic captains start at $68/hour for 70 hours guaranteed pay a month. It tops out after 20 years at $108/hour for 70 hours guaranteed pay a month. Now captain pay is much better and comes closer to US Airways captain pay than the FO pay does to US Airways FO pay, this still does not excuse such poor pay rates for first officers. How is a pilot that has to pay so much in training for a job and be given the responsibility of handling transport category aircraft with paying customers be told to live within 2 hours of the New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, DC airports and make only $20,700 a year? The truth is many are forced to jumpseat to their base and live in another city and this increases their fatigue and is listed as a contributing cause for 2 of the most recent regional crashes. It is not uncommon for a pilot to live in Los Angeles and commute to New York for work.
Flight attendants are paid fairly well for regional flight attendants. They start out at $17.00/hour and have similar pay hours as pilots. This would put it at around $15-17K for the first year. Now for regional airlines, this starting pay is not that bad for flight attendants. However, it is still nearly below poverty level wages with their bases being in major cities such as Philly, New York, DC.
I highlight this company because it is run by a devout Catholic and provides a bit of a case study in just wages. Is it the responsibility of Mr. Bedford as a Catholic to pay his employees just wages or does the business aspect of making money and protecting jobs override the responsibility to pay a just wage? I realize that by raising the wages, his airline will likely loses its regional contracts and be forced to raise prices they charge to the majors as well as to customers on their Frontier and Midwest ventures. It is a known occurrence in the industry for airlines to undercut each other to gain contracts from majors looking to cut their own costs. A major pilots union will not agree to work for regional wages that start out between $14K at the lowest and $27K at the highest with the average being $18K for year regional pilots. Is this a case of capitalism gone amuck or should the free market reign in this case? Does the freedom to say no to the jobs override the responsibility to pay a living wage that is commensurate with the qualifications needed?
If you want to work the numbers I came up with, airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/ has all the airlines, the pay scales, the hourly guarantees for monthly pay as well as a calculator for monthly pay. I was surprised on there when I found out US Airways’ most junior captain on the east side was hired in 1988. American hasnt hired since 2001 and their most junior captain is a 1992 hire. Talk about career stagnation!!
The CEO of Republic is Bryan Bedford. He is a devout Catholic and created a stir in the media when it came out that he sends his employees emails encouraging them to go to church and sharing his faith with them. He has led Republic from a small regional to one of the largest regionals that is posed to become a major player in the aviation industry with its purchase of Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines. He dissolved Mdwest Airlines operationally and uses Republic Airways and Frontier Airlines aircraft to fly routes under the Midwest banner.
Now, he pays first year first officers at pay rate of $23/hour for 75 hours a month. This equates to $20,700 for the first year. The first officer pay scale tops out at $37/hr for 70 hours pay a month after 4 years. For 35-70 seat regional aircraft, these wages are standard wages and not unusually low for the industry but many would consider it to be unjustly low anyways considering how close to poverty level it is. However, he pays these same wages regardless of aircraft type to first officers. I consider it to be unjust anyways because pilots need to pay $40-60K and in some cases up to $200K (Embry Riddle cost) in order to get the job in addition to the experience needed as instructors and night cargo pilots. However, with the Embraer 190 type, Jetblue starts at $47/hr first year with 75 hours guaranteed pay and tops out at $97/hr with 70 hours guaranteed pay a month after 12 years. US Airways starts E190 FOs at $41/hr with 76 hours guaranteed pay and topping out in 6 years at $52/hour for 72 hours guaranteed pay. For captains, Jetblue pays all of its captains between $120-140K per year depending on years at the company. US Airways, with a 22 year upgrade for pilots before they can make captain on the east side operation, has all their E190 captains topped out at $95/hour for 72 hours guaranteed a month with their 16 year pay scale. For captain, Republic averages 3 years right now at least and growing to upgrade to captain which means Republic captains start at $68/hour for 70 hours guaranteed pay a month. It tops out after 20 years at $108/hour for 70 hours guaranteed pay a month. Now captain pay is much better and comes closer to US Airways captain pay than the FO pay does to US Airways FO pay, this still does not excuse such poor pay rates for first officers. How is a pilot that has to pay so much in training for a job and be given the responsibility of handling transport category aircraft with paying customers be told to live within 2 hours of the New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, DC airports and make only $20,700 a year? The truth is many are forced to jumpseat to their base and live in another city and this increases their fatigue and is listed as a contributing cause for 2 of the most recent regional crashes. It is not uncommon for a pilot to live in Los Angeles and commute to New York for work.
Flight attendants are paid fairly well for regional flight attendants. They start out at $17.00/hour and have similar pay hours as pilots. This would put it at around $15-17K for the first year. Now for regional airlines, this starting pay is not that bad for flight attendants. However, it is still nearly below poverty level wages with their bases being in major cities such as Philly, New York, DC.
I highlight this company because it is run by a devout Catholic and provides a bit of a case study in just wages. Is it the responsibility of Mr. Bedford as a Catholic to pay his employees just wages or does the business aspect of making money and protecting jobs override the responsibility to pay a just wage? I realize that by raising the wages, his airline will likely loses its regional contracts and be forced to raise prices they charge to the majors as well as to customers on their Frontier and Midwest ventures. It is a known occurrence in the industry for airlines to undercut each other to gain contracts from majors looking to cut their own costs. A major pilots union will not agree to work for regional wages that start out between $14K at the lowest and $27K at the highest with the average being $18K for year regional pilots. Is this a case of capitalism gone amuck or should the free market reign in this case? Does the freedom to say no to the jobs override the responsibility to pay a living wage that is commensurate with the qualifications needed?
If you want to work the numbers I came up with, airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/ has all the airlines, the pay scales, the hourly guarantees for monthly pay as well as a calculator for monthly pay. I was surprised on there when I found out US Airways’ most junior captain on the east side was hired in 1988. American hasnt hired since 2001 and their most junior captain is a 1992 hire. Talk about career stagnation!!
