TwoTun, mate, for someone who has been flying since 1973 you seem to have a remarkably poor grasp of simple mathematics and English!
We're talking
productivity (ie utilisation of assets) here. The likes of WN and FR manage to turn their aircraft around in between one third and half the time of majors using the same types. This means that the aircraft (and crews) spend less time on the ground where they cost money and more time in the air where they're earning money.
Of course, this only applies to short-haul - long haul is unaffected by this as CAP370 and its equivalents would apply (ie you couldn't do a round trip LHR-JFK with a subsonic aircraft no matter how fast you turned the aircraft round).
What do you spend the majority of your time on the flight deck doing, if it isn't monitoring systems?
Hogwash - I think I've said it about three times already and I'll say it again for your benefit.
My arguments here are not about pay levels for pilots. I agree that pilots should be well paid. What I am saying, though, is that
pilots should not assume that they should be given higher pay increases than the rest of their colleagues because of their job. It's a team effort and the slogan of the Three Musketeers should apply here - "All for one and one for all!"
Oh, and Hogwash? If you think that the restictions placed on flight crew where if you fail your medical, base or sim checks etc are onerous, then think about this: air traffic controllers are allowed three mistakes (aka 'deals') in their
career. Furthermore, if you fail your medical, base or sim check then you're unfit to be at the controls of an aircraft carrying farepaying passengers - would you be comfortable with your family flying with someone that had failed their medical/sim/base check?
ITGuy - quite right ... especially when airlines are increasingly dependent on technology. I flew up to ATL from FLL on Saturday, and DL's DCS was down systemwide. It brought everything to a grinding halt - the ground staff had to use manual systems for the first time in whenever! BA's similar problem a few months back apparently cost the company over £60 million. That's the value of a used B777!!