Originally Posted by
Monkeyfly
I was dead set against this agreement, for all the reasons listed on this forum and more.
Until I went to a roadshow, talked to the reps, and got the story behind the story.
If you think this agreement is inferior to Delta's(like I do), here's why:
We are fighting ourselves(pilot groups), we are fighting ALPA nat'l(Lee Moak), and we are fighting the NMB(Linda Puchala); not to mention the managament of this airline. With odds like that, plus comparing our Mgt. to Delta Mgt., this could have been a lot worse.
This agreement is a major disappointment to me. However, if we want to get what we want we have to even out this fight, and the first step is to unify the pilot group. (Even though as a UA pilot in the bottom half of the list, I am none too excited about SLI).
All our political capital has been spent. Our retro was going to be $0.00 until we got political pressure put on Smisek. By our own analysis, our contract is worth more than Delta's overall; so who will help us now when we turn it down? Everyone who is supposed to be on our side in DC is patting themselves on the back for helping us get what they see as industry leading.
After this we are on our own. Best for the pilots to be finally on the same side.
Just like "shrinking to profitability" is not a good business plan for the company, "surrendering to fight another day" has not worked well for the profession. Led by ALPA, pilots have been fed the line that "we will get them the next time" or "this is all we can get now" implying that somewhere down the road pilots will be able to regain what they give up today to have some peace. Well how well has this philosophy served the professional pilot since deregulation in 1978? If you take the salary of a Delta 727 captain in 1978 and adjust it to provide that same purchasing power today it will make you cry. The highest paid pilots today, wide body pilots, are at least 20 percent behind this narrow body Delta captain working 75 hours per month and the gap between those flying comparable aircraft today exceeds 50 percent, and that does not take into account the increased number of hours flown by pilots today. What is the justification for taking anything that is in any way concessionary? It is insanity to continue doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different results. Sad.