Originally Posted by FlyZ

Johnso,
We are probably in similar places on the list. My number has probably decreased by about 500 as well. But has your biddding power or QOL improved by 4% as a result of that decrease? Mine definitely has not. I can not even hold the same flying I held three years ago. Since my actual number is decreasing, I can only attribue this to the farming out of our flying that Delta has done and DALPA has accepted as good for the company and good for the pilots.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, Delta would only need to reduce our mainline flying by 2-3% per year to completely erase any seniority gains we might be expecting as a result of retirements. 2-3% is easy...they have been throwing around numbers like 4%, 7%, and 10% cuts since I got here. That's starting a few new codeshares, growing Alaska, filling A380s for AF/KLM, or (I'm afraid next) Aeromexico. Our seniority numbers WILL continue to get smaller, but they aren't adding anyone below us (essentially furloughing off the top).

I do my best to use rose colored glasses, but the future isn't too bright if the last few years are any indication of which way the company is headed. It may only feel this way, but it seems one of the company's primary staffing goals is to avoid hiring mainline pilots at almost any cost.