Larger jet service to these cities in many cases is not economically viable for the major airlines. A pilot's first year at a feeder or major airline is considered a probationary period. It is an entry-level point into an extremely lucrative career. Comair agrees there is a need to bridge the gap between the pay of pilots at feeder and major airlines. The amount of revenue a flight operates is driven in large part by the number of paying customers onboard.
More seats generate more revenue.
As a result, all of the airlines and ALPA have developed a wage scale where pilot wages are tied to aircraft size. For example, a pilot on a Boeing 747, which depending on how an airline configures it can have up to 450 seats, is paid more than a pilot who flies a small Boeing 737, which may have just 100 seats. As pilots earn seniority, they have the opportunity to transfer to larger, higher-paying aircraft and most take advantage of that. The average Comair aircraft has 48.6 seats. Comair's current offer would make our pilots the highest paid pilots on the size of jet aircraft they fly.