Originally Posted by Ed Harley

I know I'll probably regret entering into this discussion about the contract negotiations but I just read through the information and posts that Alpha and others recently shared and the ensuing beat down that was given to him afterwards.

I should preface that I am not a die-hard ALPA or DPA supporter. I think the two organizations are a healthy way of creating competition, which keeps both organizations on their toes and ultimately makes us stronger. I also hope for significant contractual improvements in 2012, which focuses heavily on recapturing scope.

Although Alpha's numbers in his analysis may not have been an exact "apples to apples" comparison of airlines, I think his general point shouldn't be missed. The point is that we are only worth what the market will bear. Do I think we as Delta pilots are worth more? Absolutely, but that doesn't really matter. If other airline pilots are willing to work for less, then we can't expect to get a huge contract increase that prices us significantly above the market.

I'm in the process of selling my house and I think a good analogy to the current contract negotiations is the current housing market situation. I know what my house is worth based on what I payed for it, the upgrades I've made to it, the location, etc... However, I also know I'll never get that much for it because the market is in control of the selling price of my house. I can't sell my house for what it's worth because there are other houses in my neighborhood that are selling for way less. There is even one that's in foreclosure that hurts the price of my house even more.

So we as Delta pilots have this great house (Delta Air Lines) that we feel is superior to other houses for sale. Unfortunately, other houses on our street (United, US Airways, Jetblue, etc...) are willing to sell their house for less than it's worth. Then the house that's in foreclosure (American bankruptcy) drives the price of all of our houses down even more. There are also a bunch of cheap pre-fab homes (Regionals) that people were buying like crazy for the last 10 years, which flooded the housing market and are now falling apart. Sure there is the guy down the street that sold his house a few years ago for what his house was worth (Southwest), but the owner is now seeing potential financial problems and already asking to renegotiate the terms on his deal.

So anyway, even though I know we have this great airline with the best pilots in the world, it's unlikely that we will get a contract that equals what I think we're worth because of the current market. Sure we could ask for what we're worth and we don't budge off of that number because of our principals, but I think we'll be sitting here in two years with our same house and no still no buyers.