Originally Posted by
Denny Crane
Scoop and Jay5150,
First of all I'm sorry you guys ended up getting furloughed, it sucked.
Here is how I remember it. Yes guys were flying green slips while you were out on furlough. I don't think they should have been doing it. Unfortunately there is that pesky "status quo" thingy with the NMB and we had the 49ers to prove that Delta would come after the Union and individuals in court to enforce this. I think there is at least one of them that frequents this forum. He could tell you more.
That being said, I pretty sure the price of a green slip from 2X to 1.5X and the "Furlough Protection Letter" were a result of the side letter of agreement (46 I think) that took effect in Nov. 2004 to try to avoid bankruptcy. At the time I thought it was essentially a new contract. The "Furlough Protection Letter" was a casualty of the Bankruptcy process. One thing I would like to know, if we have/had such great lawyers, why didn't they know the "Furlough Protection Letter" wasn't worth the paper it was written on.
The following is not aimed at you guys, it's just my feelings. This is all behind us and I choose to look forward rather than dwell in the past. I know that "those who don't remember the past are doomed to repeat it." I'm all for trying to correct the inequities of the contract and hopefully we will. I am very optimistic about the future of our Company and what we should be able to negotiate in our next contract.
And like someone else said, I'm very thankful that, after 25 years, I STILL ENJOY GOING TO WORK! (Granted, we would all like to be independently wealthy and not have to work!) I know most all, if not all, of you out there in APC Land can say the same thing. That's a testament to this pilot group. Truthfully, how many people in other industries can honestly say that they enjoy going to work?
I'll get off the soapbox now. Move along, nothing to see here.....
Denny
Denny. 'Preciate it, but no need for you to apologize. I don't blame DALPA for us getting furloughed. I am with Scoop. I have just grown very weary of the spin. ALPA/DALPA is incapable of admitting that they have ever made a mistake and/or could've done things better. They are exactly like a politician in that regard. I have a very low BS tolerance and ALPA has far exceeded that level. I don't know that DPA is the answer, but IMHO the notion that it has 4-5000 cards or whatever it is, has nothing to to with people enamored with Tim Capplinger. It's continued dissatisfaction and perceived wrong-direction of their current union.
I agree with Bar, it would be better to fix ALPA from within. That just doesn't seem possible when you can take communications from the union, white out any references to DALPA/ALPA and it would read just like it was coming from management. I have seen no signs of that changing.