Originally Posted by
pete2800
So the Delta guys got all hot and bothered over an absolutely massive pay-scale, and were willing to sell the little airplane flying to get it. And then you're angry at Comair when the contract your pilot group voted in gets used as it was drawn up?
I thought the other points you made were actually quite good. It's nice to get a glimpse from the opinion of a mainline guy every now and again. This one though... you're reaching quite a bit.
To be clear, I'm certainly no CPA carrier growth advocate. I'm going to have a beer and a victory cigar every time a regional dies. It is just a bit unfortunate to see things blamed on a regional when they had nothing to do with the contract that caused the snafu.
Pete,
So the one sentence that "Delta pilots agreed to unlimited 50 seaters in return for C2K pay" makes everything ok?! Ah yes, the greedy delta pilots sold their soul and got what's coming to them. Ygtbsm..
After the successful Comair strike, "unlimited 50 seaters" didn't seem to be enough of a threat to replace nearly all of our 727 and 737 flying. In fact, the C2K negotiating slogan was "Restoring the Profession". Our pay rates, Comair pay rates and RJ growth would be a rising tide for all of us and attract the best pilots to Delta. We were making $1B and hiring 1000 pilots a year..allowing more RJ flying would put more Delta pax on jets vs Brazilia's..which they seemed to want.
Then 9/11...events unfolded as I described previously. We didn't ask for a halt to rj growth. We didn't ask to displace down to the LEFT seat of the jets OUR company was buying to fly OUR passengers...we asked to sit in the RIGHT seat of the most junior plane in return for preferential hiring at OUR company. The whole idea was "we supported RJ guys in the past with the strike AND acknowledging their contribution by agreeing to more rj growth in OUR new contract that raised the bar for EVERYONE.
I also throw back a cold one when an RJ company goes down, but I still have empathy for the pilots, employees, families who have to land on their feet. I've been there, done that. And I certainly don't get " hot and bothered" about a paycheck earned at someone else's expense.