Originally Posted by
Raging white
To all the FO's out there, it's reasonable to assume this is not a unique position among CA's. My gut tells me most don't share this "MY raise offsets YOUR huge QOL hit", but it would be naive to think he's the only one. Discouraging to say the least.
Delta and ALPA have always segmented the pilot group to get the votes they need.
Make no mistake, old guys are going to vote for this agreement.
Not all of course, but most. The older and closer to retirement they are, the more likely to vote yes. The reason is simple. They don't have enough years remaining to make up the difference if we pick a fight with management and get a better deal but its a year or two from now. Time value of money. An early deal. Etc. etc.
Delta management studies the demographics of the pilot group. This agreement is tailored to get a majority vote with the minimum required investment.
The younger captains and especially the first officers are outraged by this TA. As well they should be.
Young guys have a longer, more "career" perspective. The old timers just want a couple more years of cash and then they bail. Nothing wrong with that. Perfectly understandable. But management knows it too.
Not only do most of the concessions fall on younger guys but we are about to pass up an opportunity of a lifetime with this negotiating environment. We are
NEVER going to have a better time to stand up to management and demand more money and more time off.
NEVER going to have a better opportunity to recapture the buying power that an airline pilot used to command and do some things that would fundamentally improve the careers of Delta pilots for decades.
That's exactly what management is trying to prevent. And they've found a way to do it with this early TA.
Richard Anderson only has to get 51% of the line pilots. He doesn't have to worry about the union. He knows that ALPA has no interest in fighting. They have become a big fat Washington bureaucracy just like all the rest and they are scared of anything that might make too many waves. He told them "final offer" and that was it. They are done. They pass it to memrat and help Richard sell it.
Now we are seeing that sell job in full force. Aircraft orders contingent on the deal, ALPA strongly recommending we pass this, road shows, Notepads, etc. etc.
And those angry FOs and younger captains are going to get out-voted by old guys and the automatic yes voters.
The TA gets ratified. 54-46.
Unless-