The way I view the "award wage" is that is is essentially the minimum wage. So why is it that damn near every aviation company in the country sees it as a "maximum wage"???? If you are an employer and are paying the award, then you are a TIGHTASS!!!! Get the damn gorse out of your pockets!!
I was thinking about it the other day, Say you're charging your clapped out old 210 at say, 500 an hour? (not sure on current average rates) and you pay your girls and boys of the sky 45-50 an hour, honestly now, how much difference would it make to kick the charter rate up to 540 an hour, and pay these poor souls 80 bucks an hour!! Let them go out and have some fun in the bars of the Northwest at the weekends instead of stacking supermarket shelves to pay the rent!! Might even slow your pilot drain a bit too!!!
Just a thought