Thread: Comair updates?
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Old 02-17-2014 | 08:26 AM
  #22490  
pete2800
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Originally Posted by CGfalconHerc
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.
I can understand your frustration. 9/11 screwed everything up, or was at least used as an excuse to screw everything up. The sequence of events went about as badly as it possibly could have. I didn't intend to say that the Delta pilots 'sold their soul' or anything of the sort. No one saw this insane RJ-boom coming. My only goal was to point out that subcontractor growth isn't usually due to the decisions of the subcontractor. That said, if there's one thing I wish we could change in this industry, it would be more unity and collaboration between the mainline and regional levels. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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