Regarding the pay raise...I ran some numbers.

I used Delta and United pay scales and their contractual pay raises to compare what we'd get with the MOU pay parity review in 2016. I ran one scenario assuming Delta's 2016 raise would be 5% and another assuming they didn't get their ducks in a row and there was no "new Delta contract" come January 1, 2016. Then I ran the numbers using the proposed Delta +3%, and the ensuing 3% annual bumps.

According to what I came up with, Delta will need to receive an 11.9% pay increase on January 1, 2016 in order for us to EQUAL what we'd be paid under the current proposal. So no, there likely won't be a "bigger raise" under the MOU unless DALPA pulls off some magic.

I truly do believe that Delta pilots will see a 15-20% raise, but it will be phased in over the course of the contract, not in one huge raise in 2016. That leaves us lagging if we go to arbitration.

Clearly there are other issues at stake here regarding the proposals the company has put forth and changes to the amenable date, etc. But I wanted to put that out there to dispel the notion that if we just go to arbitration, we'll still wind up ahead in 2016 with a new Delta contract. There's still a chance that could happen, but unless Delta gets a 14-15% raise in 2016, it's unlikely we'd wind up very far ahead if we throw up our hands and go to arbitration.

I personally feel if we can fix some of the language proposed by the company (two hours driving time versus a two hour callout, etc) and return us to the original amenable date, I think the DAL+3% is about as good as we're going to get at this point since the MOU essentially removes any real bargaining leverage we would have had.