Originally Posted by Superdad

June 11, 2015
(pdf is attached as a viewing option)

Council 66 pilots,

After 10 long and arduous meetings and hundreds of hours of debate, direction, debate, redirection, and debate, the Delta MEC has approved the TA for membership ratification. Achieving this TA was not easy. The expedited timeline in no way diminishes the work and dedication that has been put into this process. We accomplished in six months what other carriers take three years to achieve.

My goal is to provide the Council 66 pilots with my perspective of the process, the facts of the TA, and to shed light on the debates we had at the MEC level. Instead of inundating you with pages of information, I plan to release a number of shorter updates to keep the discussion and debate ongoing.

I would humbly ask that we all evaluate the TA calmly and professionally. Do not allow yourself to fall prey to emotion and diatribe. There will be a tremendous amount of information coming your way. Please take the time to educate yourselves as much as possible on the TA. Read the information that the Association sends you, go to road shows, and call and e-mail your reps. Take the time to visit with your reps and P2P volunteers in the lounge. Engage and interact.

At the beginning of this process Delta MEC chairman Captain Mike Donatelli promised the Delta pilots a historic contract. I believe he made good on his promise. The proposed 2017 and 2018 pay rates put the Delta pilots above the high water marks of both carrier’s previous rates. This rate is 3.78% above the Delta C2K rates in 2004 and 23.7% above the Northwest bridge agreement rates in 2003. This does not include any profit sharing. The TA proposed pay rates have four captain category aircraft rates above $300 an hour. The smallest category captain rate is north of $200 dollars an hour. This contract achieves restoration. The pay rates for captains exceed the combined captain and first officer rates from just 10 years ago. The pay rates achieved in this TA have never been seen by this pilot group, or our peers for that matter. This TA brings the EMB190 aircraft to mainline Delta. This TA does not only pay Delta pilots the highest rates in the industry, but does so with a healthy margin.

Is that margin “healthy” enough for some? There are those who will say “no.” There are those who will say “yes,” and there is a wide middle ground who will say “I’m not quite sure.” This debate and internal struggle was played out over and over and over again at the MEC. No representative came to this decision lightly or easily. In fact, I am more proud than ever to wear the uniform of a Delta pilot after personally witnessing the process play out. I specifically said the process and not the outcome. The process was a year’s worth of work, mapped, planned, and executed. The process was vigorous and rigorous debate. The process allowed 19 status reps with the backing of 12,800+ pilots to ultimately achieve an outcome. The outcome is for you, the Delta pilots, to decide. The outcome has always been and will always be left in the hands of the individual pilot. That is the true beauty of this process. You and your family will be the ultimate arbiter of this TA.

I mentioned earlier that it’s easy to weigh this TA in a vacuum. Unfortunately for us, we don’t operate our aircraft in a vacuum, and Delta doesn’t execute its business plan in a vacuum. By understanding our environment and the challenges we face, it makes weighing the TA much more complex. That will be a discussion for next time.

There is a reason the C66 pilots of Delta Air Lines are the most professional. I ask that you use your professionalism and crew resource management skills when evaluating this TA. Expand your team, avail yourself of the resources we will be providing, and exercise good situational awareness.

Thank you,

Dave


Ok, this guy needs to be sent home.

Vote no!