Originally Posted by
tsquare
My point though is that if the company needs this, then we should get something out of it. And not just the 747 guys. It is not worth anything to you and me to not have them displaced. No. Why? Because the guys they are gonna offer this to are probably 63+. So they can leave at any time they want with more retirement than any of the rest of us will see. But yet they somehow need to be incentivized. Why? Time marches on. By the time they are actually looking at going out the door, I'll betcha the vast majority will be 64 anyway. What if they get displaced and have to go to training? So what. They will be gone in a year or two anyway. It costs the company money to displace and train them. The company needs this, you and I do not. But if the company/MEC is going to sweeten the pot for them, they damned well better sweeten it for me and you.
You summed it up nicely. If, as Sailing said, we have to be a part of this because the company can't unilaterally offer incentives to a specific group then it should be seen as a "give" from us and we should get something back. But I have no faith anyone involved in these discussions would look at it in that light. If money is leaving the Delta coffers to get this to happen it's viewed as going toward the entire pilot group when in fact only a minuscule number are benefiting. That money may not have been earmarked for the entire pilot group, but after all is said and done it will be considered to have gone toward pilot costs and those who are sitting in some good senior spots will have done even better with the parting gift. I'm all for doing as well as you can and do not begrudge the super senior for what they get and where they are. But I do take issue with their benefitting at the rest of the group's expense, especially when (as you pointed out) it won't make any difference to those who are still here by the time they depart.