Originally Posted by Seaber
A Delta strike will mean instant (job) suicide for the pilots and instant (job) murder for the other 41,000 Delta employees the pilots will take down with them. A real pity. And hardly democratic for the 41,000 employees who don't have a say in whether the pilots strike.
What the Delta pilots have to understand is that, as outrageous as the loss of their pensions and the steep cuts in salary may be, this is The Future for commercial aviation. I wish it weren't so, but the demand for cheap tickets by the American flying public continues to ravage the cost structure of the legacy airlines. Anyone planning (or currently trapped in) a professional flying career with the airlines needs to get a grip and accept that a probable salary ceiling will be about 100K for experienced captains. Again, I wish it wasn't so, but that's the writing on the wall. At least you can have a very decent standard of living for 100K, and can raise a family. Definitely won't get rich, though.
I think things would be different if Leo Mullins had a set of #$%s and showed some leadership. After 9/11 DAL was in the best position of all the majors as far as cash to weather the storm. Instead of stepping forward and telling the employees that everyone (including himself), would need to step to the plate and tighten the belts, he was more interested with grabbing what he could and hitting the door while the going was good. He knew if he asked the pilots to take the cuts that were needed he could not get his, so he smiled, grabbed what he could, and ran.
This has been the recent history of DAL. It used to be that leaders there were grown from within... they would start at the bottom and work their way up through the DAL family. They lived and breathed DAL, and would rather die than see it fail. Now, management is a bunch of outsiders vying to grab their bankruptcy protected million dollar + golden parachute just like Leo got. Just look at the person at DAL who sold the fuel futures several years ago... now there was a great idea!!! Instead of being hauled to the top of the G.O. and pushed off in front of all the employees, she got her huge severance package for screwing up and laughed all the way to the bank, leaving everyone else holding the bag.
I am not in a position to vote on this, but it will affect me, as it will others. Do I feel for the others? Yes. But there gets to be a point where you get fed up with taking it in the shorts so some jack #$% CEO can retire to his condo in Miami, the south of France and the California coast.