My concern about the pay rates are this. Pilots often have to work more than one job to make ends meet. This drives a coach and horses through the "opportunity to rest" hours prior starting work. I don't want the pilot who, after working a shift at McDonalds, changes uniform in the toilets and reports for duty at the airport, ready to fly 6 sectors. It frightens me to think that a fatigued, low hours pilot having flown 5 sectors is landing in a thunderstorm at a small regional airport. The workload, pressure and responsibility are identical to that of a mainline pilot. There is no justification for paying these pilots such low wages that they face working more than one job and often commuting very long distances to get to work. Some are even sleeping in "hot beds" near airports, which hardly provides ideal conditions to get good rest. It is shocking and very surprising that it is allowed in the US, which boasts the safest airline standards in the world. Thank god the FAA is beginning to look at this scandal.
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