Lateral Pay when switching Airlines?

Airline Pilot Questions & Answers
#1

Hey Everyone,

I understand that if you switch airlines you start at rock bottom for seniority, no matter how many years you have under your belt. However, if you change airlines and have, say, 10 years at United on a B737, and switch to American, does your pay start at square one too? Or do they do lateral pay based on years of experience?

#2

Tyler, you’re above statement is 100% correct and if in fact you “understand” I don’t understand your question? As you said “if you switch airlines you start at rock bottom”.

Keep in mind switching from one Major to another is incredibly rare which is why you want to choose your Major wisely.

Adam

#3

Tyler,

Lateral pay is very rare. It is currently being offered at some Regionals to attract high-time FOs and Direct-entry Captains.

Here is a quote from a recruiting email from Piedmont regarding it.

“All pilots with ‘eligible upgrade hours’ (including Part 135 or 91K) will be entitled to bring their longevity from other airlines to Piedmont and be placed on a higher step on the pay scale.”

This will not happen at the Majors.

Chris F

#4

Tyler,

The regionals are hurting for captains so they are offering the lateral moves. It comes in the form of landing credits or time of service. If a captain has a 5 years of captain experience at X airline, another regional could offer that captain 5 year pay and all the benefits to attract them. That makes a tough call for that older captain that prioritizes quality of life above all else. Because legacies won’t give them any credit for their time, starting at ground zero.

Hannah

#5

Hannah,

I have to ask, what are “landing credits”?

Chris

#6

Tyler,

I have known very few pilots to switch major airlines and those that do usually do it very early in their careers because of the seniority and pay reset that comes with switching.

Chris

#7

I stated that I understand the first part of my question. I was unsure about lateral pay. Many jobs pay you based on your amount of experience, I was unsure about this with the airlines.

#8

Thank you everyone for your input! I appreciate it!

#9

@Chris It’s just the language used on our website when talking about previous 121 experience: “landing credits as a Captain of a 121 carrier”. Time of service is what is actually used when calculating pay rates and other company benefits.

#10

Hannah,

Interesting, thanks.

#11

At Hawaiian the 717 operation actually has “landing credits”. Pilots get paid additional for each landing as a means to compensate them for multiple landing days.

Adam

#12

Adam,

If you bounce does it count as two landings?

I am sure you have heard that 1,000 times already this year.

Chris

2 Likes
#13

Honestly I never have and that’s pretty funny.

That said, I never bounce! :wink:

Adam

1 Like
#14

I test the surface consistency, evaluate, apply appropriate corrections then grease it. :smirk:

#15

That does not surprise me at all. It has long been known that you are the best pilot out there. I remember when we were students at ATP thinking that if I could just be lucky enough to fly an airplane after you, that some of the residual energy from your innate pilot ability might flow through to me.

I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we consider you in the company of Al Haynes, Sully Sullenberger, Chuck Yeager and the Wright brothers themselves.

Chris

1 Like
#16

Chris,

You’re very kind and hopefully some of my “energy” has rubbed off on you :wink:

Thing is I have ZERO desire to be in the company of any of those fine gents as all of them had their airmanship tested beyond the capacity of mere mortals such as myself. My primary goal is (and has always been) to finish my career never having been a story on the 6 o’clock news let alone have a movie made with my name in the title!

Adam