Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
I consider myself pretty well informed and I did not know ....
Delta management was very clear they were going to reduce 50 seat flying either with, or without, the Delta pilots. The difference the Delta pilots made was allowing MORE next generation 76 seat jets, which were not allowed in the Joint Pilot Working Agreement. Facilitating the "trade" would expedite a swap into more economically viable equipment. Back channel (unconfirmed) rumor was that the DAL MEC had informally counselled Comair's MEC to bid for the new flying to come.
It appears plan A was to renegotiate with SkyWest. SkyWest refused.
Look; Comair is a Delta asset. No one is pleased to see a part of our Company mismanaged into liquidation. No one is happy to see our management (from Northwest) take this action. There is no reason to believe they view us any differently. It is just that our circumstance is different today.
In case you have not been following our news, our SkyTeam "partners" are eating us alive just as the pantheon of DCI carriers took work you considered to be "yours." Lesson to all of us, our jobs are only as secure as the scope we negotiate.
Another long time lurker here and posting my first message. I have to say, Bucking Bar, I have ejoyed your posts and the knowledge that you bring. I can't blame the OH pilots for voicing some anger at mainline pilots and can understand how they must feel. This last post definitely puts it into perspective though.
One thing I can't figure out is how DAL expects to "save" money. Comair flies 1% of DAL routes. How could any sub-business with that low of a percentage inflict any damage to a multi-billion dollar industry? And that's even if you *buy* their argument that the RJs cost them money? (I still have not seen definitive figures that show conclusively that OH costs them money. Just because mgmt says so, doesn't make it so.)
Getting back to my point of "saving" money; closing Comair solves their problem of "high" labor costs. So how is adding planes to mainline, along with the higher wage level that comes with it, going to "save" DAL money? Yeah, maybe in the short run since 1600 people are now out of a job, but in the long-run, no way.
Which leads me to my 2nd point. DAL only is concerned with the here and now. Tomorrow is another day, another deal to be made, another promise to be broken. Previous posters have stated it more eloquently than I, do not beleive for one second that you are safe, no matter if you are DCI or DAL. In big business, tomorrow is a whole new day.