Originally Posted by
Schwanker
The Compass flows are a bit different. NWA had solid scope prior to bankruptcy. The only jets above 50 seats were the 35 Avros (69 seats I believe). The Avros could not be replaced, once they were gone, they're gone. The rest of the commuter fleet consisted of a limited number of 50 seaters, larger number of CRJ-200s restricted to 44 seats and the Saabs.
During bankruptcy, the company was going to get some scope relief. NWA ALPA wasn't going to give it without giving the jobs to the furloughed folks. The existing regionals were not going to give the furloughed NWA pilots super seniority (seats to the new larger airframes) so NWA instead created Compass. These jobs were for current furloughees and also FUTURE furloughs. This created an excellent layer of furlough protection we still enjoy today. The flip side to this flow back was the flow through which was sunsetted with the transfer of ownership. Those who interviewed and were given jobs at Compass had (I believe) a 3 year minimum time there then a guaranteed flow after at a metered pace. Those who interviewed had roughly the same backgrounds and passed the same interview as those at NWA. Since the sale of Compass, the flow is no longer in place with the exception of those grandfathered, but the flowbacks are still there giving us an effective layer of furlough protection.
I could very well be off on a detail or two, but this is basically how it went down. In a sense, this flowback does benefit Delta pilots.
Swanker,
I would direct you to the NWA MEC's "ZipLine" publications which explicitly explained how scope was exchanged for credits which were used elsewhere in the contract.
Many NWA pilots were good trade unionists and wanted those jobs on the NWA seniority list. The fatal flaw in the NewCo >>> Compas model was that management got the permission to create these jobs off the list, so that they were not NWA pilots, not then, not when we merged, and not now.
You are correct that Compass did something for mainline pilots, but it did very little. The more recent SSP does absolutely nothing for Delta pilots and has no reciprocity which might help us to avoid furloughs.
Better if theses were either:
- Mainline jobs, or negotiated to be mainline jobs, or
- Mainline jobs, negotiated with an end to permitted outsourcing
The only correct answer is for Delta flying to be done by Delta pilots.
For those of you reading this thread, that means more hiring of Delta pilots, more opportunities and better job security if we can make it happen.