Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
Pinnacle's agreement is probably the milepost which the end of ALPA will be measured.
An express carrier will "own" mainline flying enforceable by contract with the mainline parent. Permitted flying has been transferred under contract and is now committed to an express carrier. These negotiations were done with the mainline pilots locked out the room. President Moak intends to cram Pinnacle scope down on to the Delta pilots.
If this were part of a "dream" to improve express pay by gaining them their own scope it might be a good thing, but, Pinnacle's committed aircraft are tied to their bankruptcy concessions. Further, six months after the Pinnacle amenable date, the commitment disappears. Due to the length of the Pinnacle contract, the Pinnacle scope will supersede Delta's next bargaining cycle.
Even if ALPA does survive this move far beyond what the Ford-Cooksey plaintiffs wished to achieve, ALPA's ability to bargain for mainline carriers will be severely compromised as they no longer enjoy autonomy and exclusivity with their management.
Delta mainline is officially now just a DCI carrier.
I'm getting more and more lost on this one, Bar. As far as I understood the issue earlier, there might or might not have been a meet-and-confer failure, something we couldn't demonstrate, and Delta used their leverage to drive the Pinnacle reorganization, which includes the pilot deal, which now sounds like it comes with a semi-automatic flow progress, where Delta can take out applicants it doesn't want. And some have even said it might only be a preferential interview deal.
As far as ownership of permitted flying, we permit it, and Delta contracts for it. Seems to me each DCI carrier has a ling-term contract for their protection. How does this one break the mold, other than what I described in the preceding paragraph?
Not arguing with you, just trying to understand issues.