Originally Posted by sailingfun

I don’t know if the issues are weather or staffing however it sounds like you do. Can you give us some statistics on delays and cancellations caused by a lack of crews? I have however been involved in three of the IROPS in the NE in July and can tell you it’s been 10 years since I have seen the kind of ATC delays that the system is experiencing. The total number of summer flights is at levels well above previous levels. The ATC system can’t handle it. The difference I see at Delta however is a much more rapid recovery than other airlines even a smaller and far simpler operation like jet blue. We are dramatically better than AMR at JFK.
Personally I doubt more crews would solve the issues since most of it is ATC driven. I suppose we could staff for the worst weather delays possible and require the company to always have enough reserves so every pilot would only have to work when they feel like it. Not sure how long Delta would last doing that but at least to the end of my career.