How do you explain that a decade ago I was bouncing on the yearly 900 hours per year limit for three straight years on the 747?!
No doubt you were on 900/yr Tanker, but the majority (rotators doing blanks and others on LSL, the 330 and 767 boys and gals etc) weren't. FACT.
Try going to a retirement dinner and ask the retirees. Why do so many long termers end up with an average of 650/yr for their careers?
Because the Long Haul Contract makes them do reserve and pays them for flying not done. I'm not saying that the people don't deserve to be paid what they are paid, just that all the featherbedding incorporated in the LHC makes it a very expensive business relatively speaking.
I agree that pilot pay is not the issue currently, but it is relevant in the longer term if the group is to become influential again.
PS I'm not Wayne and I'm not Raj, although I agree with both on many things.