Originally Posted by
Ollie Onion
^^^ why? That is how a lot of big airlines around the world are or have been structured, why is Air NZ so special that Jets and Turboprops shouldn’t be mixed?
And what makes an SO seat so special that it gets paid enough money to ensure a good chunk of pilots would rather sit there than move to an A320 FO spot?
These are genuine questions, as apart from ‘losing the higher SO pay’ for new joiners and or ‘a bigger list so longer wait times’ there doesn’t seem to be a very good reason to be so scared of this change.
Ten thousand hours plus is the answer to the SO seat question. That's why it gets paid
so much money. QANTAS aside, there is no other airline like it. History will tell you that prior to the bust up in 1990-91, Air NZ operated 1 Capt. and 2 F/Os. Guess what the most junior F/O got to do? Sit in the back and rarely do a take-off and landing - sound familiar? S/O is a B-scale F/O, the person AirNZ hired for those S/O spots were the same guys they had been hiring the week before as F/Os. Thats why it's
so special. It was a money saving back then, now they want a C-scale and to justify the massive pay cut, they want to hire genuine cadets. On that basis, you're quite right, they should never be paid the same as the current multi-decade Regional captain. None of that should distract you from the fact that they don't need cadets in widebodies - the shortage isn't there, as you quite rightly suggest - its in the turboprops. Occam's razor would suggest fixing that particular shortage at source doesn't it?
As ElZilch has said, this proposal fixes the massive own goal over the S/O pay disparity (not just the recovery of monies paid, but also the closure of the gap between S/O and A320 F/O), and the A320 retention problem in one foul swoop (freudian slip???).....
Ollie,
why is Air NZ so special that Jets and Turboprops shouldn’t be mixed?
I'll throw this one back at you without prejudice - Why are Links pilots so special they're the only ones who don't need jet time to get a job?