Originally Posted by
finis72
Scoop, I agree with most everything you posted but I have a few questions:Do you think DALPA caused the stagnation?
No.
Do you think the fact that we had 2000 or so pilots leave because of loss of pension/ bankruptcy and their replacements then hit age 65 stagnation and a flat economy contributed to this stagnation ?
Yes.
How about the merger and the synergies with subsequent loss of flying ?
Yes.
I would add that I think the whole seniority list has stagnated the last five years but as always the junior dudes get hit the hardest.
Agree, but more like 10 + years for some. Like you said it not so bad "stagnating" at the top. I realize that their are junior CAPTs stuck on reserve who are probably also frustrated, but they always have the option of bidding something else, whereas many pilots on the bottom of the list do not.
I was not trying to lay blame on DALPA, but I do think they went a little overboard in their zeal to sell the TA. I am not sure I understand the whole "sell-job" mentality and would actually prefer DALPA to take a more neutral point of view when presenting a TA. Kind of like - these are the good points, these are the bad points, and let the line pilots make up their own minds without the sell job.
My point was we may have done a good job getting our pay-rates up (compared to BK) but with all of our outsourcing many are seeing one step forward (increased pay) and two steps back (displacements to lower paying categories).
Scoop