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.
This brings up an interesting point. The flow down provision is at least something that benefits the DL pilots. Far beyond actually needing to use it, just the fact that its there is a pretty significant penalty during furloughs as well as recalls. What's going on at Pinnacle however is the worst of both worlds. While someone obviously got fat bonuses for being the architect of the situation (gutter contract in exchange for interviews and maybe a wink wink auto-pass in the future) even that is appearing vulnerable to realities of the industry; its just not close to being enough. DCI is on the verge of falling apart operationally as the industry opens up. Pilots just aren't going to stay at a gutter trash contract with horrible pay and no QOL for years when they could punch out sooner for much greener pastures…even if its less than a DL job in the long run. They need to bring the large RJ's to mainline and raise the remaining contracts at the regionals. If they don't, it will be fun to watch DCI melt down.
And as an added bonus, DL might start automatically taking TOTD's like the guy who delayed a flight bad mouthing DL in the gate area because he didn't get through the interview?
Its time for the company to admit this little pet outsourcing to the lowest bidder project isn't working anymore.