Salary Justification
Just read this in "The ten most overpaid jobs in the US" article referred to on another thread.
"While American and United pilots recently took pay cuts, senior captains earn as much as $250,000 a year at Delta, and their counterparts at other major airlines still earn about $150,000 to $215,000 - several times pilot pay at regional carriers - for a job that technology has made almost fully automated.
By comparison, senior pilots make up to 40 percent less at low-fare carriers like Jet Blue and Southwest, though some enjoy favorable perks like stock options. That helps explain why their employers are profitable while several of the majors are still teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
The pilot's unions are the most powerful in the industry. They demand premium pay as if still in the glory days of long-gone Pan Am and TWA, rather than the cutthroat, deregulated market of under-$200 coast-to-coast roundtrips. In what amounts to a per-passenger commission, the larger the plane, the more they earn - even though it takes little more skill to pilot a jumbo jet. It's as much the airplane mechanics who hold our fate in their hands."
If the assumption that flying a 747 is not exponentially more difficult than flying a commuter jet is fair then why do captains of 747's earn so much more? Do coach drivers earn twice as much as mini bus drivers? Do mini bus drivers earn twice as much as limo drivers? Do limo drivers earn twice as much as taxi drivers? etc etc I'm sure experience is a big factor but a 20yr 747 captain will still earn significantly more than a 20yr commuter jet captain.
I'm interested in this from a business model/economics perspective and am not trying to bash senior/747 captains. I am a free market supporter so if your combination of qualification, skill and experience means you can command twice the salary of someone doing an 'apparently' similar job then fair play to you. Equally, if an airline can find someone with the right qualifications, skill and experience to do the job you do for half of what they pay you then fair play to them.
If this renumeration model prevails through tradition or union strength can we expect the captains of the new A380's to earn significantly more than current 747 captains?