Delta bought COMAIR before I was hired in 99 and they were the first "all jet" feeder to use the CRJ. During the Comair strike in 2000, as an attempt to narrow the gap between RJ pay and mainline, Delta pilots sent Strike Assesment checks and ensured that no Mainline metal was used to cover a Comair route as struck work. I was an FE on the 727 and it was my job to check the DALPA guide book we had so that mgmt couldn't break the Comair strike out of CVG. After a few months, mgmt agreed to make the Comair pilots the best paid in the industry. We thought we had helped the Comair pilots bring the piloting profession up closer to what it should be.

This was in 2000, and we were in the middle of C2K negotiations for mainline. In return for record payrates, DALPA agreed to unlimited 50 seat RJ's to help feed the mainline operation. We signed C2K in the summer of 2001..and 9/11 hit in September.

Let me be clear. I know there are good guys at Comair and Delta. I just don't like re-writing history as if Comair was a helpless victim without any responsibility for their demise.

We offered the first "preferential" interview deal for Comair guys in return for letting furloughed mainline pilots swing the gear.

We got the middle finger for our efforts..and that's why there is such an emotional response to the name "COMAIR"...at least from 1310 Delta pilots..