Originally Posted by
georgetg
Delta may not make money from having passengers on Alaska flights but does get the benefit of connecting passengers. Just like Delta hardly makes money flying RJs but having RJs feed bigger planes is beneficial to the system.
But Forget Alaska for a moment.
The question is about fundamental philosophies, not about any specific alliance.
What is our goal as a pilot group?
- Does the last guy on the list remain at the end of the list?
- Have we succeeded if no one is furloughed but we haven't grown?
- Is a smaller pilot group with large contractual gains for few more desirable than a larger group with smaller gains for many?
- Are we better off with a larger or smaller union representing pilot interests?
- When other low-margin businesses try to increase profits do they shrink or grow, do they hire or outsource?
I'm asking what I think are questions we must address as a pilot group if we want to go forward and be successful long-term.
Cheers
George
Growth will come only when the airline can profitably add flying to the system. The industry and Delta in particular is not interested in mindless market share wars just to say they have the most market share. So the only way to encourage the airline to grow is to create the business environment for them to succeed and add more flying.
I know there are some who think that if we just rid ourselves of code shares and JV's that we will somehow organically grow by leaps and bounds. AMR has been slow to the mark, somewhat hindered by their pilots, to embrace the new reality. They have the weakest alliances and the weakest market penetration (except for US Air, but they are not a factor). They have lost mainline market share, their pilot group has shrunk dramatically and they have hundreds on furlough.
As Delta has strengthened their code shares and joint ventures, we have added mainline capacity faster than any other carrier. We are still in the middle of a slow recovery from a deep recession coupled with a dramatic rise in fuel prices. Yet Delta is able to continue to fly markets profitably, continues to decrease connection flying, and according to management, they will make a profit this year. This is due in no small part to Delta's leading role in establishing a broad alliance amongst many carriers that allow them to steal profitable flying from other carriers.
So the two concepts go hand in hand. Alliances help create profitable flying, alliances help build market volume which shifts flying from RJ's to mainline aircraft, and alliances will help the company and the pilot group to grow. When the economy recovers, then we will see the growth, until then it will be slow.
I can see the urge to go tribal and try to build a moat around us and hope that leads to prosperity. In today's industry that is a recipe for failure.
I hope that answers your questions.