Purple,

Have you taken the time to meet, or listen to, our MEC Chairman, Mike Donatelli? He ran National's Strike Preparedness and has the track record of the Spirit strike which was a win. You would probably like him a lot. He's a powerful speaker and makes sense.

Management isn't impressed by emotional chest pounding. That does not work. What does work is based on the carrot of collaboration which makes Delta more profitable, along with the stick of leverage created by Delta's need for pilots' services and contractual compliance.

Delta is not in compliance with our Trans Atlantic JV. We are in a cure period which by all appearances is not going to be cured. That's leverage for somebody. Perhaps it plays in to this widebody RFP and locking this flying down so that we improve bidding opportunities at the top of this Company as has been done at the bottom of this Company.

I don't know anything, but that's where some of these dots seem to be pointing. Cautiously optimistic with the realization that improving JV language (and compliance) results in a higher percentage pay increase than the headline number in Section 3.

Delta, even with capacity restraint to drive revenues, still needs more, larger, jets.