FEAR: noun.

a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

I see it radiating from your post. Rightfully so.


Now let's look at the facts:

"Senior executives have stated they would like to complete a new contract by the amendable date and are willing to commit the negotiating resources to do so."

-M. Donatelli, March 12, 2015 "From the Chairman"

We were told it would be "on time and on target." Apparently we have a TA six months before the amendable date. The good news is we can still appease the senior executives if the TA is not on target and it's rejected at either of the next two steps. We have plenty of time to work with.

We could actually conduct two more of the same negotiations we just did between mid March and now in that time. Maybe one if you factor in the required recalls depending on where in the process a rejection could occur.

"We have a fine negotiating team with an enormous stockpile of experience at their disposal. Your direction to the MEC has been collated, analyzed, absorbed, and debated by the MEC, and the MEC has completed their direction for the opener."

"any agreement will be the result of your input and consensus . I light of this process and the hard work of yourMEC, I am confident that when we do have an agreement you will conclude we have achieved the worlds finest airline pilot contract."

-M. Donatelli, March 12, 2015 "From the Chairman"




IF the rumors are true on pay rates alone, we will not have achieved the worlds finest airline pilot contract.

IF the rumors on selling back PS are true, they did not follow our input and consensus.

IF the rumors are true that this contract contains more scope concessions, they again did not follow our input and consensus.



"We have prepared, listened, and are ready to negotiate with management to bring you the best airline contract in the world."

-M. Donatelli, March 20, 2015 "From the Chairman

IF this TA is largely concessionary after the senior management enriched themselves and the share holders with buy backs and dividends worth $ 6,000,000,000.00, then neither did Dalpa prepare, listen or were at all ready to negotiate with management.

They will have effectively failed in that endeavor.

Therefore, IF this TA is largely concessionary with aggressive over reaching by management, that was not effective countered in only the 10 to 12 weeks of negotiation by Dalpa, aggressive change is needed.

This change can only be recalls at the most elementary of remedies and a wholesale change of a bargaining agent at the most aggressive.

DPA, not a fan. But as an ALPA supporter at the end of my tolerance, I could be swayed if Caplinger and his gang are ushered out and effective, goal orientated communicators are at the helm.

I also could be swayed if an already "established" major pilots union made a drive to replace ALPA thus increasing their resources and political clout. It's being discussed.




Sharpest. You fear the corner that the pilot group finds ourselves painted into now. There is much uncertainty as to how this plays out. If the TA is as bad as it's rumored, it's going to get ugly fast. Those emotional and unstable personas become genius just like that fast. What you characterize as spewing about the POS then becomes reality and the doubt that the leadership at Dalpa remains intact is the best case scenario. The real doubt is if Dalpa survives.

Hope they are paying attention in Herndon, VA. Stomp. Stomp.



I leave you all with these prophecies:







“This is really a good story,” ALPA President Lee Moak said Tuesday during a visit to Bloomberg Businessweek in New York, part of a quick tour to assure Wall Street analysts that ALPA’s contract demands won’t prove onerous to airlines. “I almost can’t stand it, it’s so good.”

--Bloomberg Businessweek: "Pilot Contract Talks in 2015 to Come Amid Robust Airline Profits"
By Justin Bachman August 13, 2014







Shareholders have started to realize returns in the form of dividends and stock buybacks. Thanks to the profits, pilots now see themselves as collaborators with management—they increasingly lobby alongside airline executives in Washington. That, says Moak, deepens the working relationships. “All of a sudden, you find yourself on the same side of 95 percent of the issues,” he says.

--Bloomberg Businessweek: Pilot Contract Talks in 2015 to Come Amid Robust Airline Profits
By Justin Bachman August 13, 2014







Most of the contract talks are likely to center on basic compensation—hourly pay rates and how much carriers pay into pilots’ retirement plans. “There will be a business discussion of pay as it relates to revenue,” Moak says. “You can argue about $2 or $2.05, and that matters to the crew member,” but “you’re working on the margins” on the new contracts, he says.

--D. L. Moak as quoted in Bloomberg Businessweek: "Pilot Contract Talks in 2015 to Come Amid Robust Airline Profits"
By Justin Bachman August 13, 2014