Originally Posted by sailingfun

Yet the facts don't back up the posts on this forum. You can't compare a airline that had 25 aircraft and now has 43 (HA) with a airline that has 700 aircraft in a growth discussion. Sure there has been some growth at small niche airlines. Virgin has been stagnate for a while. AF is shrinking and going to spin off a bunch of flying to a low cost new airline if they even survive in their current form. The mainline block hours at Delta are almost exactly the same as at the merger despite the posts here. Seniority list numbers are down but the reasons have been explained. Working pilot numbers which is what counts are not down.
Since the merger with NW the economy has been one of the worst overall since the great depression. Show me a airline with operations comparable to Delta that has been in a large growth mode since 2007. Emerates is perhaps the closest example but they are a very different operation from Delta. Every airline in our class has furloughed. We did not.
There is no doubt that there has been stagnation to the extreme. You say its all DALPA's fault and I think its the economy. We are each entitled to our opinions. I tend to be a results oriented person. Since the merger with NW Delta has not furloughed a single pilot. We are one of two US airlines to achieve meaningful improvements in our contract. We will be up over 30 percent in pay over that time period. The next best airline in the industry will be SW up 7 percent. No one else will be up a dime until the UAL contract is ratified. We have made numerous improvements in quality of life in the contract. When I look at results I always compare them to how other subsets are doing. By any measure we have been light years more successful then other comparable airlines.
We just signed a contract that so far is delivering exactly as promised. We are adding pilots, we are adding Captains jobs. For the first time we have meaningful growth. The last two bids added net Captains jobs and the next bid will really have a substantial addition. That will be followed by similar bids for the next several years all based on growth in mainline block hours. At that point retirements kick in with a bang. Not one other US airline has a future looking as bright.
Again everyone is entitled to their opinion. My opinion is that we weathered one of the worst periods in US history for airlines far better then anyone else and are now poised for the growth we all are desperate to see. If the economy turns around the resulting movement could be far better then the eighties boom times.
in 2005 I was planning my new career after Delta shut down. I tend to be a optimist but I could not imagine Delta would be where it is today back then and that was without knowing that the future held a massive economic crash. Again for me its all about results.