Originally Posted by TED74

Do you really think folks hired after 2010 miss those points? People don’t drop into their Delta job out of the ether. Many of us - maybe even most of us - have been thinking about and preparing for this career since childhood. We aren’t oblivious to what happened to those who came before us... and if we are after years of subsequent active employment listening to our elders in Delta cockpits, well, your posts and mine in APC probably won’t help.

I think problems may come in when people compare “then” to “now” without a broader perspective on income. $175k a year 15 years ago was and is actually a $hit ton of money. The vast majority of Americans who were busting their butts in 2006-2009 sure weren’t generating that kind of income, with that kind of sick leave, that kind of paid vacation or your type of health care and travel benefits. Naturally, I’d rather have what we have now and I’ll keep scrapping for more in section 6. But if I am being honest, my sympathy for hardships is stronger for other demographics in other industries. There are plenty of things I’d sacrifice for (see my yes vote on 20-03)...”fully restoring” a hard-to-define (senior) dead-zoner major airline captain may not be at the top of that list. If I’m ever a 61 year old 350 captain with four earning years ahead of me... I’ll probably not expect much from young junior FOs unless that ask benefits them immediately as well.