Originally Posted by
Bill Lumberg
He likes to compare us to Unical, saying we are higher paid. Why doesn't he compare us to TACA in El Salvador? We have a much better contract than they do. How has Unical done with their SOC? We did ours in record time (leverage given away). We did it that fast to make sure our company could realize those synergies faster, giving us a better chance of restoring a lot of what we lost. But he wants to compare us to peers that are dysfunctional, that don't really have a good business plan, that will take years to sort out. What we really need is a lot more FNWA blood in the NC. They had it right, and got things done, without going to 4th floor kid's birthday parties.
Slow needs to turn that attitude around, and tell the union that they need to be more proactive with their major client, the one that gives it more than $30 million a year in dues. He needs to repeat over and over "help me, help YOU." Get that survey out NOW, and start representing, instead of managing expectations.
Channeling Colin Powell per Ferd...
Can you please show me how I've managed your expectations? I've pointed out some facts. I've pointed out some flaws in arguments. I haven't been a cheerleader for strategies that have failed in the past. How does this manage
your expectations when I don't even know who your anonymous webboard pseudonym is?
Turning to your points, it's my view that your reference to TACA is an attempt to paint my use of Unical and Airways as absurd. I disagree. Unical has 17.3% of the domestic US market compared to Delta's 16.6%. LUV is at 14.4% and LCC is at 7.9%. I've mentioned all those carriers in my responses; together those 4 make up 55% of the US market. TACA isn't on the list. btw, the 4 largest that I haven't mentioned (AMR, B6, ALA, and AAI) make up less than 25% of US capacity.
You believe that the Delta pilots gave up leverage in getting to a JCBA. The record shows that our payrates are over 17% higher because of that contract, retirement funding went from 11% to 14% DC, and we got stock worth $450 million today. Larger but as you describe dysfunctional UAL/CAL have seen nothing with the leverage that they've been given in the year since their merger. I point out again that a Delta A320 Captain is making $168/hr compared to his UAL peer's $137.
As to going to birthday parties, look at the track record of those that attend parties vs those that don't. In SWAPA's merger brochure with AAI there are references to a collaborative, company supportive relationship throughout the document. They have the highest pay rate in the passenger industry. Some Delta guys went to a party pre-merger...our pay rates are higher than all of our passenger airline peers except the aforementioned carrier. All those "old-school" tough unions have lower rates of pay. Thoughts?