Originally Posted by
sailingfun
You need to go back and review the pay rates at the time. AMR never got on the big pay raise bandwagon before 911 and then took cuts soon after. At Delta we got a large raise immediately before 911 and then 4% raises for the next 3 years. The difference in cash flow on just pilot costs was huge.
This is true however, the deal that AA pilots agreed to in order to avoid bankruptcy in 2003 (which is what I thought you were referring to) did not solve AA's cost problems which lingered for years keeping their pilots at/near the bottom of their competitive set in pay. Meanwhile, even after the pillaging or our contract in BR, we recovered at a fast clip and sit today in a much better position overall. I think if you run the numbers, the evidence is scant that they made the 'smart move.' I could be wrong.
Again, the point is, they made mistakes, we made mistakes, we're all human but there is no question that we would be stronger together.