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Pilots at American Airlines’ regional carriers Envoy and Piedmont are getting a big pay raise.
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Pilots at both airlines are set to make an average of 57% more than at Delta’s regional airline.
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Line-check airmen at both airlines will make $427.50 an hour under the new contract.
Pilots at two regional carriers under American Airlines are getting a huge pay raise.
On Friday, the American wholly owned regional carriers Piedmont Airlines and Envoy Air reached a deal with the Air Line Pilots Association to increase pilot pay through August 31, 2024, both carriers announced on Saturday.
Under the new contract, first-year captains will earn $146 an hour, and entry-level first officers will make $90 an hour at both airlines. The previous pilot pay rates were $78 and $51 an hour at Piedmont, respectively. Envoy captains’ former pay rate was $86 an hour.
The raise is “industry-leading,” according to Envoy, nearly double what is offered at competitor carriers like Republic Airways and GoJet. The highest first-year regional first-officer pay rate up until the news was $52.98 an hour, The Points Guy reported.
Piedmont said the new pay scale averaged 57% higher than that of Delta Air Lines’ wholly owned carrier, Endeavor Air, which is now the US’s third-highest-paying regional airline.
“Including all bonuses, a new hire pilot should expect to make 31% more than pilots at Endeavor and 10% more than pilots at leading Ultra Low-Cost Carriers (ULCCs) over the first five years,” Piedmont said in a press release.
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The pilots with the biggest pay increase are line-check airmen, who will get $427.50 an hour under the new contract. These pilots help train other crew members but have been leaving for mainline airlines faster than other groups, Piedmont CEO Eric Morgan told The Points Guy.
“It is a strategic move to make sure that we can keep our training and qualification process moving and not have to…