Originally Posted by
buzzpat
Hey George,
I'm all for seniority progression and I know that about 85% of us thought we'd be progressing much faster than we have. I certainly never anticipated leaving the career I had in the Air Force and 20 years of flying heavies internationally for being a narrow body FO for the rest of my life.
I think the only point I'm making is that career expectations are exactly that...expectations. Nobody could have anticipated the effects that 9/11 had on this industry prior to that day, nor the RJ explosion that helped many get the experience they needed to reach the majors only to now understand the detrimental affects that industry philosophy has had, nor the economic down turns of the last 4 years.
It's not the older guys fault that they lost their pensions and now have to work until they're 65 or 70. I can guarantee that almost all of those guys would be long gone if they could afford to.
No, what we're looking at is the reality that this career ain't the salad days of Pan Am or TWA. Thats gone.
I also returned to my v-file and had my 1-year and 5-year pins waiting for me. I wasn't humbled. I was ****ed. I really hadn't done anything to earn them. I'm making up for that now. And I want my company to reward me for my loyalty, hard work, and safe and skillful flying. That's all.
That's exactly what I'm talking about.
There are debts to be repaid...some of them financial.
I'd like to see all Delta pilots move up, and those who'd like to retire filled up and taken care of so they feel they can. I filled out my contract survey accordingly.
The disconnect now is that despite external threats Delta is wildly successful.
2 consecutive years of Billion dollar profits means the corporate side's needs have been met and exceeded. Seniority progression is the only real long-term payback because everything else hinges on that number...
As for me, I'm a post 9/11, post bird-flue, post housing crisis hire. My expectations weren't really very high at all. And while I'm supposed to be "happy to have a job" I'm one of those malcontents that thinks that when the company is making money on an insane level, the pilots ought to benefit by having career progression. I'm happy there are smart guys running the show and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. On the other hand I'm also not under the delusion that somehow it will all payoff in the future. That old adage has been proven to be quaint old concept. The here and now is all that matters exactly because of the experience of the last 10 years...There is no payback, no deferred compensation. Chances are there won't be a seniority bubble because the retirement age will just go up again to unlimited as it just did in Canada. That's just the reality. Anybody who thinks somehow there will be deferred improvements is kidding themselves.
Reality check: we aren't holding any IOUs, not for pay, not for seniority, not for hiring, not for production balance and that's just how it is.
Cheers
George