Hard to tell a Delta pilot anything? In my eight plus years at Delta, I've found the pilots to be very professional, reasonable, and open to intelligent dialogue and exchange of ideas. None of the guys have been obstinate and closed to an open discussion when I've disagreed. What's your opinion based on (WatchThis)? The pilots that can't be told anything are the guys in this business that ***** themselves out to non-union, low-pay, marginal/no-retirement flying jobs because "they love the job" and get to fly a neeto jet, but they're making more money than they ever did waiting tables at Red Lobster, banner towing, or driving an RJ. Try convincing them they're contributing to the degradation of our profession and hurting themselves in the long run...
The pilot early retirement wave has been going on at Delta for the last year or slightly longer, in a steady stream. Most pilots that can, are taking the lump sum and retiring, while others are sucking up overtime flying and staying as long as they dare and planning to bail at the last minute (now). The rest that are going to stay have a variety of reasons for doing so, one because of a catastrophic illness in his family (needs the medical insurance), but the rest haven't sold me on their reasons for staying. No doubt they are risking a lot of cash by staying. The rent-a-retiree program wasn't utilized on a huge scale and is due to expire soon. They covered a lot of flying with overtime. The union and mgmt are talking again on how to best manage a potentially large exodus of capts.