Pilot Expectations are managed by the MEC. I guess you weren't at DL South for our 2000 negotiations. We had a great MEC Leader and Negotiators, and they spooled up the pilot group by educating them as to exactly how much we had given up in our previous contract in 1996, lovingly referred to as POS 96.
They had charts and graphs that showed how much more money Management was making in 2000, and how little the pilot group was making, and how far behind inflation we were, etc. In short, the MEC MOTIVATED the pilots to DEMAND RESTORATION, we even had tie tacks that said, "Restore the Profession". We did informational picketing, we had a strike vote, Labor Risk was definitely NOT off the table.
Fast forward 15 years. The Delta pilots have given BILLIONS in concessions, every year, for 11 years, to help save Delta. And now Delta is making BILLIONS.
But not a peep about Restoration from the MEC, as if the Lost Decade never even happened.
Why not? Why no family awareness meetings? Why no informational picketing? Why aren't we in RA's face about his 22% raise? Why aren't they raising pilot expectations right now, instead of lowering them?
What are they afraid of? The Media? The NMB? Both?
All they have to do is show the pilots and the media, and the NMB, the actual numbers for all the stuff we gave up in Bankruptcy to Save Delta; the 42% pay cuts, the retirement funding we lost, the jobs we eliminated with all of our efficiencies like PBS, the lost weeks of vacation, the outsourcing of our international flying with all the JV's, and how the company isn't even in compliance with the agreement they signed.
Yes, we have made small, incremental gains in the past 11 years, but we are still 18% behind 2004 pay rates, with very little in terms of retirement funding if you're in your mid to late 50's now, as so many of our pilots are.
It's payback time. Let's start acting like it.
