Originally Posted by
Scoop
Did I miss something? Its been about three months since the TA passed and guys are mad that we are not hiring yet???
I voted yes and would vote yes again. Look we all knew that short term this would not help with hiring - higher ALV - shorter July and August etc. Long term we will see hiring and not because or in spite of the TA but because of retirements. The age 65 rule did a lot more to delay hiring than our new contract.
I and 1100 other DAL guys were furloughed while DCI flourished. This contracts brings domestic flying from 55% to 65% mainline - that is good. Yes more large RJs sucks but that is secondary to the fact that mainline will fly more passengers - mainline is going to grow as a percentage of the DAL system. Not last month, not next week but hopefully over the next few years.
And yes I realize the 50 seaters were going away anyway - does that somehow make it not good?
And finally, I don't think too many DAL pilots "fell" for anything - there was plenty of information out there both pro and con about the TA. We all knew, or should have know, what we were getting.
Scoop
My issue with the jumbo RJs is how long they will be around. The 50 seaters were going away, and we bent over to help them park them only a couple years ahead of schedule. DL achieved a major small jet scope weapon against us for longer into the future with this contract.
That was my major issue with the scope section of the contract. The rest of my issues were that it took what my lowest expectations were and undershot them significantly (the inflationary level pay "raises," crap min day, vacation and training pay still at the bottom of our peers and many regionals, concessions on staffing, and so on).
As such, I felt it would delay hiring and advancement vice hiring approaching the front burner. I really really don't want to be proven right. It's our contract and we're along for the ride now. Hopefully we can capture some goodies on the FT/DT negotiations...