Originally Posted by
johnso29
So you're saying that DALPA never compared our wages and earnings to SWA pilots? And that Delta pilots are still working under a 42% paycut? And that the company no longer has $10 BILLION dollars in debt? Or that work rules and pay have not improved since exiting BK or since the merger? Or that our DC isn't one of the best in the industry?
If you want to acknowledge the bad, you must also acknowledge the good. The improvements may not be coming as fast as you want, but they're happening. And at a faster rate then most of the industry.
You need to read a little more carefully. I didn't say any of those things.
What I have said (and was referring to in my post) is that we are STILL at a ~32.5% pay cut in buying power. This, almost a decade later and with our company making billions in profits with a strong outlook for more of the same or even better. Of course we've had some pay rate increases over the past decade since bankruptcy. Otherwise we'd be at about a 64% pay cut in buying power right now.
I fully acknowledge all the gains as well as all the losses. And when it's all said and done, we're still having to live with what amounts to a 32.5% pay cut. But you won't hear anything like that from DALPA... because their objective is not restoration and they are doing their best to manage this pilot group's expectations and keep us all happy with getting what would under normal circumstances be considered some pretty decent pay increases... except in this case those increases are to the bankruptcy reset that DALPA has allowed to be established as the new baseline.
On the positive side, our DC is the best I've seen from any company anywhere. I'm extremely happy with our setup. For most of us who lost the pension halfway through our careers, it doesn't fully make up for that. But I think it could more than make up for the loss of pension if we'd get our pay back up to restorative levels, which would in turn dramatically increase the dollar amount of company contributions. For the younger guys, our retirement rocks!
As to DALPA's "contract comparison" to SWA... It was not an accurate comparison. They came up with a smoke and mirrors rate comparison that did not show the true difference in compensation, days worked, etc. Our average pilot is still significantly underpaid compared to SWA's average pilot working a similar number of days. DALPA sold us a bill of goods on that one. And I think it was intentional so that they could get us to accept less than what our surveys stated.