Originally Posted by
microkid
Some of the issues with LCC`s:
It`s necessary to look at the rate of pay which can be about the same or even less than regional or long haul pay, you just have to work harder to earn that higher pay check.....
The days can be extremely long resulting in the need for slightly more days off however you`ve still spent more hours at work...
The issue of job security can be argued. LCC`s tend to have a huge fleet of either Boeing or Airbus aircraft. The issue is when the LCC suffers from an external shock (recession, fuel price,volcanic ash, accident etc) resulting in large cutbacks or even terminate completely. This obviously results in huge numbers of pilots fighting for a job on the same type. There`s a higher chance of getting a job if the type is in demand AND there are more "operators per type". Regional operators tend to operate smaller fleets however there are considerably more operators per type, especially for something like the ATR which is high in demand. Regional operators also tend to have more stability than other sectors throughout the ups and downs of economic fluctuations.....
I can't agree with what you have said - I believe almost universally you will find that at an hourly rate of actually being in work ie. duty hours, LCCs pay more.
With regard to surviving economic shocks - just look around at which companies are expanding, which are contracting and which have disappeared over the last 20 years. The only way to survive economic shocks is to be cash rich and adaptive to market forces. Regional operators tend to be geographically constrained in the reach of their networks which severely limits their ability to redeploy assets into higher yielding markets.