Perhaps that's a myopic way to look at it. If DAL management is considering VB's, I suspect they see the benefit in the concept as well. Therefore, I don't see the need for any concessions from anyone.

Like most pilots here, I'll probably retire without ever using the paid moving benefits contained within the contract. Yet, I'm glad that section exists. The same thing could be said for many other contractual items as well. Since so few guys will ever use LTD, shall we dump LTD and give everyone a $3/hr raise? Shall we give all of the civilian guys a small pay raise because they'll never use the MIL benefits within the contract? What about maternity leave? Very few of us are female. Should we dump that section and ridicule them because they made the "lifestyle choice" to have a family? Of course not. Every section should be improved at every opportunity.

One of the things which drew me to this profession was the fact that its a union job with union benefits. I was mentored by old guys who fought for every paragraph of their contracts whether it benefitted them personally or not. Furthermore, they sought to improve each contract at every new negotiation cycle. Their esprit de corps was impressive and infectious. I don't recall them referring to other pilots as "idiots (who made) a poor lifestyle choice for their current job, and then try to carve out a special deal for themselves to correct their poor judgement".

Yet here we are. Happy Holidays everyone.