As a very new line puke in the latter category, and someone who has great interest and historically little success in avoiding involvement in workplace politics, I agree that it's hard to get us newbies motivated to throw the BS flag in what is a darned good deal.

But for those like me who are just so dang happy about not wearing tan, spending the morning brushing sand out of your teeth and flushing it out of your nostrils, and peeing in a bag, and especially those like me who are free of those things and have the bonus of being in the check-of-the-month club, please also remember this: You did all that crap not just for what you got out of the experience but also to serve others. And even if you weren't all jingoistic and altruistic, you were ready to fight if for no other reason than the people on your left and right wing (and on the ground).

I've got lots of wingmen who have been here at DAL much longer than me. Many of them sacrificed a lot of their future to save this company, hoping there might be restoration when times got better. By doing so, they saved a place for me in the cockpit, and provided food on my table.

Times are better. Restoration is in order. Look beyond your own kneeboard and outside the window for why.

If the leaked rumors are true, and especially if some of the leadership are considering those concessions, we are going the wrong way, and I'm going to find myself exactly where I don't want to be - smack dab in the middle of this damned politics thing. I hope to see a lot of my newbie contemporaries alongside me, as well as you wiser more experienced people.

I've written my local rep. I entreat you all to join me.

The "best contract on the planet" is our target. And that best contract better make our wingmen whole.