Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
The way it should play out:
DETAIL:
In exchange for greatly enhanced job security and longevity the small jet pilots must concede to a rational list using the principles of status quo. That means stapled on the bottom of mainline, but with the retention of their DOH for benefits within their own Company and merged by category and percent amongst their peers.
In practice there would be one master seniority list...
I could possibly support something along those lines, but there are some huge areas of concern. First of all there is no way management is ever, ever, going to agree to a scheme whereby every single "mainline" new hire pilot position comes in at top scale pay. With greatly enhanced upward mobility and earning potential and job security would come longevity reset by default or it would never be agreed to from a cost perspective. That is capital you will never find 51% willing to spend. On the other side of that issue, you give DCI pilots the ability to opt out and stay where they are, much like the Compass flow was designed for.
Another big hurdle though is who exactly is DCI and what exactly is a DCI pilot. Back in the days of ASA and Comair doing the vast majority of DCI as well as being wholly owned, it was a bit less murky. Today ASA is SkyWest is Continental Express is ExpressJet and they fly for several airlines. So we let SkyWest fly 130 seat jets for Delta provided we fly them but on our list are United and USAir Express pilots? Delta seniority list pilots also fly United and USAir and American passengers? What?
Fast forward 10 years when things get even more crazy and a Delta pilot could bounce around 20 different certificates flying for United, Virgin, JetBlue, USAir, American or SkyBus 2? Sometimes flying for multiple airlines on the same trip. What? Oh and every mainline new hire comes in at top scale pay, max vacation and sick time and every DCI pilot gets passrider priority over all junior mainline pilots the second that kind of deal is inked.
A staple with protections is potentially workable, but not across the system in its totality and not with full longevity carryover. I can get on board with the spirit and intent of what you're saying but the devil is in the details and honestly as convoluted as it is at "DCI" I'm not sure how to make that happen. Especially if it meant letting a current DCI carrier fly 100+ seat aircraft while we bounce around DCI certificates just so some fake analyst can pretend those planes are "debt free" when they aren't.