Originally Posted by BlaneO

I just watched Ed's townhall from today and was enfuriated by it. I should have counted how many he times he said that 40% of frontline employees took unpaid leaves, sacrificing themselves for the good of the company, and that now it's time for the pilots to step up. He's a finance officer and should know better than to spout such deceptive lies.

News flash... NONE of those employees were unpaid! My girlfriend is a 27-yr FA, and she's very savvy, but she actually SAVED money this summer while on her "unpaid leave" because of the NY unemployment and CARES money. The frontline employees that took "unpaid leave" were either made whole (or close enough to not feel real pain) by the government assistance programs. Delta essentially took the CARES money to cover employee costs, then turned around and sent 40% of their employees onto government programs (an employee-cost double dip).

There is no program to adequately replace a pilot's salary when they go on an "unpaid leave." The only option which has had any success in the industry is when the company itself steps up to fill that income gap, knowing that the government programs are insufficient. But that's a SIL, and Delta won't have it.

But comparing the 40% who "sacrificed" to save Delta to the 12% REAL earnings losses by pilots is a complete apples-to-oranges comparison, and Ed knows better. At least, I hope he does. His words were pure political spin that did not address the financial decisions he was advocating.