Aa pilots salary: At American Airlines, pilot pay — and airfares — are headed up with new deal

• Ben Schlappig
• Published:
  March 8, 2023
• Updated:
  May 19, 2023

46

American Airlines management seems ready to give its pilots a new contract, though I’m surprised (and impressed) by the way the airline is going about it…

In this post:

American Airlines’ contract negotiations with pilots

At the moment we’re seeing pilots at most major US airlines trying to negotiate new contracts. They didn’t have much leverage to negotiate during the first two years of the pandemic, and with pilots now being in such high demand, this is obviously a great time to try to get a new contract.

We’ve seen pilots at both Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines negotiate new contracts, and pilots at other airlines are currently trying to do the same. American Airlines pilots have been trying to negotiate a new contract since before the pandemic, but so far haven’t been able to come to an agreement.

One of the challenges with these contract negotiations is that pilots at each airline want an industry leading contract. So not only is there a lot of benchmarking happening between airlines, but some contracts even contain provisions that there could be further retroactive pay increases in case a competitor negotiates a better contract.

Obviously this is challenging, and creates a situation where the sky seems to be the limit when it comes to pay. We’re seeing the latest example of that at American now…

American pilots are trying to negotiate a new contract

American Airlines’ unconventional offer to pilots

Generally contract negotiations happen behind closed doors, and occur between management and top union officials. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom is currently taking an unconventional approach, and has just sent a letter to pilots, with what essentially amounts to a contract offer, as first flagged by @xJonNYC.

https://t.co/8DjGLv34b5

— 🇺🇦 JonNYC 🇺🇦 (@xJonNYC) March 8, 2023

This letter is so unusual and frankly generous that many wondered if it was fake, but nope, this is real. Let me hit on a few of the highlights:

• Isom confirms that Delta pilots ratified a new contract “that is unprecedented in the history of collective bargaining,” and it’s “a deal that profoundly changes the economics of a Delta pilot’s career”
• Isom confirms his commitment that pilots at American “will be paid competitively,” and that “American is prepared to match Delta pay rates and provide American’s pilots with the same profit-sharing formula as Delta’s pilots”
• American pilots would receive pay increases of 21% in the first year, plus they’d get a better profit-sharing program, plus they’d get a bump in their 401(k) in the second year of the deal
• The profit sharing pool would increase from the 5% of pre-tax earnings that it currently is, to 10% of pre-tax earnings, to 20% of pre-tax earnings above $2. 5 billion
• Compensation would increase 40% by the fourth year of the deal, and factoring in overall compensation, narrow body captains would earn $475,000 ($135,000 more than now) while wide body captains would earn $590,000 ($170,000 more than now)
• Isom finishes by saying that this contract is what American pilots deserve, and that it can be negotiated quickly, so he says “let’s get this deal done”

American pilots are looking at huge pay increases

My thoughts on American’s offer to pilots

Usually it’s common to see airline management drag their feet when it comes to contract negotiations. So Isom offering what’s unarguably a compelling contract to pilots might come as a surprise. My guess is that he’s just trying rip the band aid off, and make sure the summer travel season runs smoothly:

• Isom probably realizes American is going to have to match the Delta contract, so he might as well get some goodwill out of it, and avoid travel disruptions
• These contracts often include retroactive pay raises as well, so there’s not really a benefit to drawing out the negotiations and waiting as long as possible to have a new contract ratified

Congrats to American pilots on being offered this contract, and hopefully they can come to an agreement soon.

I do think it’s worth briefly discussing the overall implications of these contracts. Ultimately pilots should of course negotiate as much pay as they can, but I think it’s worth acknowledging that to most Americans, these are some pretty jaw-dropping compensation structures. In fairness, keep in mind that the above numbers are for experienced captains, while newer captains and first officers would be paid less. However:

• There’s no denying that with such high labor costs, airfare will continue to have to increase over time, to reflect this kind of pay
• In particular, these kinds of pay structures make ultra long haul flights even more challenging economically, as these flights have four pilots; American seems to have almost given up on ultra long haul flying, but if United negotiates a similar contract, that’s going to be a challenge, given how many ultra long haul routes the airline operates
• While I understand becoming a pilot requires a big investment of time and money, it seems that pilots are getting a fantastic contract here, while flight attendants and other labor groups continue to not have a reasonable new contract; unfortunately this likely just reflects supply and demand, as there’s a never-ending number of people who are willing to becoming flight attendants for the current pay, while there’s a shortage of pilots
• Generally once pay increases, it’s rarely decreased again, aside from bankruptcy, or a situation along those lines; so if this just becomes the new pay standard of what pilots are “worth,” it’s going to be interesting to see how that impacts supply in the profession over the coming years

American captains could earn up to $590K per year

Bottom line

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom is taking contract negotiations into his own hands, and has written a letter to pilots offering a very generous new contract. This matches Delta’s recently ratified contract, and will see pilots getting roughly 40% increases in their compensation. Not only would pilots get more hourly pay, but their profit sharing would increase, and there would be quality of life improvements as well.

Isom is promising that wide body captains would be making $590K per year, so suffice it to say that this is some incredible pay.

Congrats to pilots on these huge pay bumps. One has to wonder how sustainable this is, though, especially when economic conditions change.

What do you make of this offer to American Airlines pilots?

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How much do pilots who decide to quit Kazaviaspas en masse earn?

Informburo.kz continues the topic of helicopter pilots from Kazaviaspas, who wrote letters of resignation en masse, demanding better working conditions and higher wages.

The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Yuri Ilyin, commenting on the complaints of the flight crew, said that an official investigation is now being carried out and the results of the checks will not be long in coming.

“Demands and dissatisfaction were also related to wages, but I want to say that the flight crew – they all received good money. Without disclosing anyone, I will say that for the year the income of pilots, who, among other things, wrote (statements. – Avt .), – more than 20 million tenge . As for work in the structure of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, of course, the Ministry of Emergency Situations does not always work in favorable conditions, not always the conditions for living or basing a train, as in a five-star hotel. We will sort it out,” said Yuri Ilyin .

Our editorial office also received a detailed response from the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for each of the 16 requirements of the pilots. The correspondent of Informburo.kz asked the pilots to read the agency’s responses and express their opinion.

According to them, the salaries that the minister spoke about, the pilots never received , and the commission that the ministry set up to investigate is already reporting that it has revealed violations of housing conditions.

Meanwhile, one of the most experienced instructor pilots, Dulat Akhmetov, was fired today, April 6, due to “violations of the norms of professional ethics”, although, according to the flight crew, he only defended the rights of pilots.

So what was the response of the Ministry of Emergency Situations to the pilots’ complaints, and why are they dissatisfied with these answers?

Requirement 1. When performing work at the request of Kazavialesokhrana, provide the staff with normal living conditions

In our previous material, the pilots complained that while working at Akkol, Krasny Kordon and Zhasybay, their living conditions were Spartan: they could not wash themselves, lived in an abandoned wooden private house , where there were problems with water, and they had to look for firewood in the forest.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations noted that they had created a commission that flew to these settlements on April 4 to consider complaints from employees. According to commission member Gaziz A., it was confirmed that living conditions in Akkol and Red Cordon do not meet the standards.

“Last year there was not a single inspection of housing conditions at these points by the head of the flight service, although this is part of his duties. The quality control service came at the very beginning, when the housing premises were rented, it was no more”, – noted Andrei Bukhal , pilot-instructor of the flight division of helicopters of the western production of the flight service of Kazaviaspas JSC.

Requirement 2: Stop the process of dismissal of instructor pilot Andrei Bukhal

Andrey Bukhal himself on March 31, after the words of the management “If you don’t like the conditions, quit”, he submitted a letter of resignation. The pilot has 30 years of experience, and in 2021 he received a letter of thanks from the Minister for Emergency Situations for rescuing a 10-year-old girl in the Charyn Canyon.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations states that Andrei wrote the application of his own free will, and he did not withdraw it, so they cannot stop the process of dismissal. At the same time, in a conversation with Informburo.kz, the pilot explained that the application was filed due to a violation of the employment contract, in accordance with Article 56, paragraph 3, of the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It was not a voluntary resignation letter.

He can withdraw the document after the elimination of violations: for example, such as non-compliance with work and rest regimes. However, a labor dispute with Andrey was not opened, and proposals for resolving disagreements were not brought to him.

Requirement 3: Pay overtime

Why do pilots complain about non-compliance with work and rest schedules? The fact is that while on duty for search and rescue support , pilots can work more than 12 hours a day, and in the summer – more than 15, but in the report card they will always be given 8 hours of working time.

In response to this complaint, the Ministry of Emergency Situations stated that the time sheet set an average annual eight-hour working day, regardless of seasonality. In winter, daylight hours are shorter than in summer, but pilots are given eight hours.

“If we take the duration of duty on the shortest day of the year, it is 7 hours 41 minutes. The longest day of light in the year is 16 hours 47 minutes. Therefore, the average annual working day cannot be 8 hours. Thus, the actual working time is reduced flight crew,” said Yerken Dzhumagaliev , commander of the flight unit of western-made helicopters.

Requirement 4. Pay for work on weekends and holidays not only for flight hours and duty

Another problem is that when the crew goes to work on a weekend or holiday, they are given “day off / duty” in the timesheet. That is, in fact, a person works, but in the schedule he has a day off.

Pay for work on a day off is given to employees of “Kazavispas” not like on a regular weekday, but only a fixed amount for duty and flight hours (if any) without salary by day, which the pilots consider illegal.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations only confirmed that they did not pay the salary.

Photo Informburo.kz

Let’s give an example. In March, Andrey Bukhal had only two days off, despite the fact that March was full of holidays. The report card will also indicate that he rested every Saturday and Sunday.

“In July last year, I had 412 hours of working time. A memo was written addressed to the general director of Kazaviaspas. They told me: “Prove that you worked,” although they have all these plans. And this happens every month for the entire flight and engineering staff. Processing is underway, which is not taken into account, “said the pilot.

Requirement 5. To index official salaries taking into account inflation

In June 2022, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Major General Marat Kuldikov, in response to a request from pilots, recommended that their salaries be indexed from January 2023, but this did not happen.

The salary of pilots consists of two parts – salary and payment for the raid. The salary of the aircraft commander is 276 thousand tenge , and the co-pilot – 233 thousand . It is this amount that the pilots are asking to be indexed.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations, in response to the demands of the employees, said that the salaries of pilots are good, payment for a flight depends on the MCI, and it increases every year. As a result, an ordinary aircraft commander, according to their calculations, receives an average of 1,168,825 tenge per month, a co-pilot – 811,546 tenge, and an instructor pilot – 1,490,708 tenge. However, the pilots claim that they have never received such salaries.

“ In order for the aircraft commander to earn 1.1 million tenge, he needs to be on duty 30 days a month, seven days a week. The same picture with co-pilots. The commander of an aircraft on duty for 15 days and a flight time of 15 hours a month receives 681 thousand tenge, and the co-pilot – 502 thousand. By flying, the pilot risks his life – we believe that this is a ridiculous salary. The financial service presented these data without VAT and contributions to the pension fund. Having also summed up bonuses, vacation and travel expenses for food and housing, which in no way can be included in the salary part, “explained Denis Zubkov , deputy commander of the flight unit of Western-made helicopters.

Requirement 6. When performing work at the request of “Kazavialesokhrana” to make a guaranteed daily payment for duty in the amount of two flight hours

When the crew works on the requests of “Kazavialesokhrana”, it starts work at dawn and finishes it at sunset. On fire days, pilots fly, but the rest of the time they are on duty next to the aircraft.

If there are flights, they get paid for them, and if not, then nothing but per diems. This angers the pilots, so they demand a guaranteed payment for two flight hours, even if there are no flights, because they are still on duty.

However, the Ministry of Emergency Situations noted that this was not provided for in the contract.

Photo Informburo.kz

Demand 7. Remove the flight director and his deputy from their positions

The Ministry of Emergency Situations replied that both the director and his deputy have the appropriate education and work experience, so there is no talk of dismissing the leadership. For example, the director of the flight service worked in state aviation and has 37 years of experience.

According to the pilots, state aviation differs significantly from civil aviation. Therefore, their management does not fully understand the specifics of flight work. Moreover, they were navigators in state aviation, but they never were commanders of aircraft.

Requirement 8. Conduct an internal investigation into the performance of flights from the spot by the director of the flight service Mirbek Kurmanaliev during training flights

One of the cases that outraged the flight crew occurred on 19February of this year, when one of the trained pilots of “Kazaviaspas” applied to the Quality Control and Flight Safety Service with a complaint against the instructor about improper training.

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, in order to assess the correctness of the instructor’s actions, the director of the flight service, Mirbek Kurmanaliev, was in the helicopter office as a service passenger. No violations were found in this case.

However, the pilots say otherwise. Director of the flight service Kurmanaliev, according to them, was not in the passenger seat, but in the commander’s chair and had direct access to control. The pilot-instructor at that time was in the place of the co-pilot. They have video proof.

“In accordance with the Rules for Flight Operations in Civil Aviation (paragraph 4, article 120), it is not allowed to be in the flight crew cabin of persons not related to the performance of the flight mission, as well as items that restrict the control of the aircraft, the normal operation of its systems and equipment. We ask the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan to look into the legality of the stay,” the pilots noted in a collective letter.

They stressed that the director of the flight service did not have a certificate of aviation personnel, a medical certificate, and was not even listed as a passenger in the flight assignment.

“Nothing changes”

As a result, the pilots noted that exactly the same answers were sent to them from the Ministry of Emergency Situations last year. The volume of work is increasing, pilots and engineers practically do not live at home, there is a shortage of staff, and this is beneficial for the company. Those who have been working at Kazaviaspas for a long time emphasize that it used to be better, work on holidays and weekends was at least taken into account.

Read also:

• Helicopter crash in West Kazakhstan region: Ministry of Emergency Situations published the names of the dead Kazaviaspas employees
• Helicopter crash in WKO: Aviation Administration to check companies operating Mi-8
• Yuri Ilyin assessed the flood situation in the Aktobe region from the air

Independent named the highest paid Formula 1 pilots :: Formula 1 :: RBC Sport

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Topping the list are Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, who earn £40m a year. Mick Schumacher and Guanyu Zhou have the lowest salaries

Max Verstappen

(Photo: Global Look Press)

The British newspaper Independent has published a list of the highest paid Formula 1 drivers in 2022 on its website.