Q: The Company promised “industry leading” – what happened?
It depends on perspective. With the addition of Boarding Pay, there is no question we are industry leading. Our boarding pay formula is more lucrative than Delta’s and our pay rates are higher than Delta’s at every pay step.
As far as base pay rates, it came down to other provisions AFA pushed for based on the negotiations survey and membership feedback. The Company was willing to do industry leading base pay rates early in the process. Before the new Southwest rates were a reality, management was willing to match Southwest. Shockingly, they balked at matching the new Southwest rates.
However, our boarding pay adds an average of 8% to our pay rates and much more depending on the pairing.
We ended up with the second highest base pay rates, above Delta and slightly lower than Southwest. Effective pay rates with the addition of Boarding Pay are above Southwest.