Originally Posted by
forgot to bid
In the name of scope recapture I think we should just start a PR campaign around a simple question, "if Delta Air Lines' is the best, why does it outsource YOUR FLIGHT to multiple regional airlines jockeying to be the next lowest bidder?" Or in fun bumper sticker size: "BITTER ABOUT FLYING ON THE LOWEST BIDDER?"
Or a little more centric to our needs: "Ask why is your Delta flight not being flown by Delta pilots?
The connotation on that last question would be a problem for ALPA to run with because how can ALPA in good faith say Delta Air Lines pilots are better than Pinnacle/Comair/ExpressJet/Alaska/Compass pilots who are also ALPA?
The general direction here though is, shame them out of regional service and bring Delta passengers home to Delta Air Lines.
It's simple. Good enough to fly Delta passengers, good enough to be Delta pilots. That is the take our union would need to take. Some pilots here do not like that and want to have DAL pick each pilot. Well, it does not work well for any sort of integration. Until pilots get religion on the issue, not much will change.
A double staple that protects the DCI pilots seniority on their current equipment is the most logical way to go. With retirements kicking in, they hold their bidding rights on their current fleet, but vacation, and pass benefits et al would probably have to be reset. They get stapled to the bottom of the list after a DCI intergration. Once they bid up to mainline jets their system seniority prevails going forward. It protects them where they are and us from an errant arbitrator going forward. Most DCI pilot see the writing on the wall and this sort of scheme or plan is a life preserve for many of them.
It is all talk though until all delta pilots and DCI pilots want to get serious about it. DCI need to realize where their careers are going and have logical expectations of any intergration. Anything short of this the deal is effectively a nonstarter for Dal pilots. All the dci pilots I know freely admit it too.