Originally Posted by
DAL 88 Driver
I like most of what you're saying. I really do. But to characterize the gains we've made as significant progress toward restoration... well that just doesn't fly. Looking at pay rates, we took a 42% cut. 10 years later we're at a 34% cut (adjusted for published inflation, which arguably doesn't fully reflect the true cost of living increases). Mathematically, that is very little progress given the amount of time it has taken relative to the amount of time the average Delta pilot who has been here during that time has left.
And we're going forward with essentially the same strategy that brought us the results to date. I just don't see that working. What do you think will be different? Like I've said many times before, I absolutely believe that proactive engagement is the way things should work in a healthy business. But it requires a mutually respectful relationship where both parties work together for each others' benefit. I don't see a 34% cut (greater than the percentage of the pay cut we took prior to bankruptcy in a desperate attempt during an extreme financial crisis to keep Delta from filing bankruptcy) in today's environment being representative of respect being show to us as professionals or as human beings. Do you think management is suddenly going to recognize this on their own, without any prompting from us, and make it right?
For me it just boils down to we are where we are, not where we want to be.
I'll take your numbers at face value, since I've never done the buying power calculations that you clearly have. Of course I would like that 34% to be smaller - wouldn't we all? Where we again differ is that I believe that number would actually be larger (ie still stuck on JPWA rates) if we had gone the traditional route and taken 2-5 years to achieve a Section 6 contract.
The LOA's along the way are even better because they clear the way for a more streamlined conversation when we get back to Section 6 in April. That conversation can now be essentially "now that the recovery has actually taken place, and Delta is solid financially, we expect to share in the success." I don't believe that conversation would/could have been taken seriously in spring/summer of 2012. April 2015? You betcha.
Also, fwiw framing the conversation in terms of "getting back what we gave up," "lack of respect" or "restoration" is not likely to yield success. The only people on the planet that give 2 hoots about that are the Delta pilots. If we want to move the rock up the hill, we have to work within the framework that exists, and deal with things as they are, not as we want them to be.
A more appropriate argument IMO is to be compensated commensurate with the financial success that we enable 24/7/365, through our safety, professionalism, and yes, labor peace. To get to where we want to be, we need to put forth an argument as to why we warrant a (large, using your numbers) premium over the rest of the industry.