Steve, you allude to the correct answer. Air pay was the arbitrary(extra)
that switch (yard) crews received when carman were available to either couple
air hoses or bleed cars in yards. Clearly the intention was to encourage the
carrier to supply enough carman to handle the air work. As wage rates rose
and the penalty didn't keep in step it was cheaper to pay the penalty then
higher a car knocker. As I recall the earliest rate I recall was $2.37 or
thereabouts. It was a given each shift @Eola Yd that you'd get air pay due to
all those x/o moves. Leo
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