Excuses, excuses, and more excuses. 2004 rates plus inflation ARE relevant. In terms of the standard of living afforded by our pay rates, that gives us an "apples to apples" comparison to where we were throughout most of the 1980's, 1990's, and early 2000's.

Bottom line is how much do you make and how many days do you work to make it. There are certainly other factors but rates are by far the biggest determinant. Our current rates are a 34% pay CUT to the buying power of our 2004 rates. That's BIGGER than the 32.5% pay cut we took in an extreme emergency to try and save Delta from filing bankruptcy. And you're worried about limiting ourselves by comparing our current rates to C2K buying power?! That's total BS. You're not worried about that... it's an excuse.

It's now 10 years later. Delta emerged from bankruptcy a little over 7 years ago. We are leading the industry in almost every metric, including profits of multiple billions. We have an outlook for more of the same or even better. The industry has been restructured in a way that should facilitate more consistent profitability going forward and less of the up and down roller coaster that most of us have experienced our entire careers. Things have never looked better for our company and our industry. Yet we're being paid as if Delta was in a dire financial situation on the verge of bankruptcy! It doesn't get any more relevant (or inappropriate) than that!

Why do you constantly want to sweep that under the rug? For once have some self respect for our profession and don't be afraid to call a spade a spade. If it ruffles some feathers, then so be it.