Flow is all you need?

As bidding opens for March Charlie is once again bidding reserve. Ideally he thought that after almost completing 30% of the estimated time to Captain (he was quoted it being a little over 2 1/2 years) he'd at least be a bottom end line holder or at least top of reserve. He's none of those. In fact he's very much so on the bottom of the reserve list.

In order to upgrade a First Officer to Captain, the airline must have a replacement First Officer (a new hire). With so few new hires coming in, the process isn't going as planned.  Only 80 pilots have been hired in the 6 months since he was hired. Many more pilots have left than have been hired.

While most regional airlines are being pro-active and raising pay and offering bonuses to attract pilots, Charlie Buckets employer is resting on a flow program.

For a pilot meeting the qualifications to fly for an airline, money talks.

Take three large airlines....call them Diplomat,  Commonwealth and Enterprise.

Diplomat, where Charlie works,  has a starting pay for $26 an hour first year and $35 the second year. Diplomat guarantees 75 hours pay a month for reserve pilots. The first two years the new hire will make a total of $54,900. This is just base pay and does not include per diem and possible overtime.

Commonwealth has a starting pay of $40 an hour first year and $41 the second year. They also pay a 75 hour minimum monthly pay for reserve pilots. The first two years the new hire will make a total of $72,900. Again excluding per diem and possible overtime. That's a minimum $18,000 difference.

Enterprise has a starting pay of $30 an hour first year and $33 the second year. They also pay $23,000 in bonuses every year for the first 3 years. The first two years combined an Enterprise pilot will make $102,700......almost double the Diplomat pilot. Icing on the cake is Enterprise also offers a flow program.

While it's true Commonwealth doesn't offer any type of flow program, the pilot can at least afford to live a regular life while the Diplomat pilot will have to watch his spending closely to avoid going into greater debt.

To meet the minimum qualifications to fly for an airline a pilot must spend at least 2 years and more than $60,000 to achieve the ratings and flight hour requirements. After all the time and money it only makes sense to go to the airline with the greatest income.

Charlie is second guessing his decision to work for Diplomat. His friends at other airlines, while they don't have a golden ticket, are able to live in a normal apartment, eat real meals and could upgrade to Captain faster on their own.

For now....Charlie waits.