Air force defends bonus pay system as pilots file dozens of grievances, refuse promotions

[SupersonicMax]

L

I have seen the spreadsheets some of the pilots have used for their grievances to justify the loss in potential earnings. But guess what, the key words are potential earnings. Not guaranteed earnings. The problem could indeed fix itself when you consider that there are only so many Capt positions to fill, and only a certain percentage of those positions will allow for someone to gain all the experience needed to reach the top gates and maximize the Capt salary band. Unlike the pay scale for GSOs, you don't automatically continue to move from incentive 1-20.

So as long in the tooth Capt fliers continue to fill instructor, Trg and Standards, flight lead, etc positions, there will be a decrease in training for newer pilots, thus limiting their potential earnings at the Capt rank. Individuals will then look to maximize potential earnings by taking that promotion.

What will likely happen is we will see a slinky action over the next decade as the system tries to self correct.

I can guarantee you this isn’t how it’s seen and lived.

 

[captloadie]

Because groups of individuals will learn how to gain the system so that it doesn't naturally work out on its own? Hard decisions had to be made, and cut-off lines needed to be implemented. No solution was going to make everyone happy.

And if I remember correctly, and this may have changed in the last six months, but there were only a handful of majors who were impacted by the pay scale change, and would actually earn less than if they had refused their promotion. Everything else is based on what-if scenarios.