Originally Posted by
DALMD88FO
Alfa,
I know who you are and I've actually flown with you. I know that you are probably one of the smartest numbers/computer programs guys around. You state that numbers don't lie and I agree, however numbers sometimes don't show the whole picture. Your graph shows how much we've recovered, not really made, during the past few years. On a line below us you have SWA and if you look at their progression then you would expect that our 737 rate should blow them out of the water. In reality we lag behind them by a good $6 an hour.
This is usually where someone chimes in about well go to SWA then. Sorry I like a lot of guys have made the commitment to Delta. Glad to be here and think we have a bright future. I for the life of me can't understand how some just forget how much we've given up over the last decade. I've had an ALPA rep tell me how we had the best rates in the industry for 3 years before giving those unsustainable rates back. Well for 1,350 of us, we had the rates of whatever furlough job we could find.
I know you have the capability Alfa. What I would ask from you is a dollar amount of how much we as a group have given back in order to put this company in the financial position it is today. We used to get a memo before every giveback LOA stating how much it was worth to the company. I asked for one of those during C2012 and ended up with a long conversation with HK. Some of the things that we gave and seemed small cost us jobs and pretty big dollar amounts.
And look what's coming next:
Pay Banding.
Think that won't cost jobs?
Personally, it won't help or hurt me at this point in my career, but for Oberon and the rest of the newbs, you might want to do some math before you sign on to that concept. If pay banding saves the company just 5% in manning, that's 600 new hires not needed.
Or put another way, 600 pilots could retire and not need to be replaced. Take your seniority number, multiply it by .05, and that's how many guys it will put in front of you, not behind you. The further down the list you are, the greater the impact.
PBS was a huge manning concession. According to DALPA, the average pilot is now flying 92hrs. a month, vs. the 75 we flew with line of time bidding. Vacation sell back (what we do today) is a huge manning concession. Reserves flying up to ALV + 15 is a manning concession. Unlimited time pickup through swap with the pot and the swap board is a manning concession.
Remember, at the merger DL South had over 7,000 pilots and NW had about 5,500, together that's over 12,500 pilots. Even though we are hiring now, we aren't even back to that number yet, due to all the Synergy and manning concessions.
And now the company wants more...imagine that.
Now, Oberon, before you (again) say you want the company to be as efficient as possible, and that you don't want to go to training as often, you might want to get your calculator out and see exactly how that's going to impact you.