The way I see it... Comair was once a place that was called a "career company" where it felt like a family and people were willing to give up the chance at heavy iron and the "majors paycheck" to stay close to home with a company that gave a damn about them and took care of them.

Right about the time "Daddy D" took over, they stopped giving a damn and it stopped being a career company. I think in order to keep people, a few things need to change.

For one, a few people in management need to go. We all know who they are, so no point in naming names.

Second, trips need to be more productive. December is a nice start, but it's a holiday month with lots of flying. It needs to stay that way. Lots of flying leads to growth. Growth leads to upgrades. Why stay at a company slinging gear for 5-6 years just to upgrade and then spend possibly 2-4 years on reserve as the junior captain when you can go to other companies and upgrade in 2?

Third, we need more flying and more growth. How many times have we flown a route, and all of a sudden its no longer ours? How often do you hear "[Place name of airline here] stole our flying!" The BOS base will likely never happen now that we do much less BOS flying than we once did. Yes, I understand it's not "stealing", but from our viewpoint and gripes with management with no forseable growth, it certainly feels that way.

Fourth, the pay for pilots and other employees needs to go up while management's pay needs to go down. Maybe not to post-strike pay, but certainly higher than what it is now. I agree with HercDriver abut per diem. 1.55 will hardly buy you dinner on the road.

That's just my piece, but what do I know.