Originally Posted by Wasatch Phantom

George,

An excellent post!

You're a pretty well-informed guy and I'm guessing you saw the email that circulated last fall from an AA First Officer...

(For those who didn't read it: This First Officer, and the Captain he was flying with, did everything required by their job, but not one iota more. This email detailed how rapidly dysfunctional the operation became when pilots didn't step up and do what's necessary to keep things flowing. It was hugely ugly.)

When I read that email I thought of Delta's own operation and of all the things we do, on a daily basis, to keep the operation flowing relatively smoothly and mostly on time.

I firmly believe Delta management is blissfully unaware of all that we do. We sure as h*ll don't get thanked for it (much less compensated).

As far as this: "Operational Excellence memo wants us to stop "masking" the problems and let the data speak." My response would be: "Really?"

In theory maintenance write-ups should occur with equal frequency on flights from a hub to an out-station as on the return flights. Yet I'd bet a bunch of money (and I'm not a betting man) that the difference is staggering.

Do they really want us to write up discrepancies where they happen and highlight the gaping holes in maintenance coverage?