Originally Posted by
Bert Sampson
I’m old enough to remember when the UAL deal came out and some of our pilots lost their collective minds at the mere prospect of anything like that happening here. Then the air of sheer superiority when our deal came out and was viewed as transparently better. But I still think it’s too early in the game to actually know who did it better.
I don't think the 3-tiered pay system was a good idea, nor do I think that would have passed here. What was good on United's part was how they kept most people in their original seat and everyone stayed qualified. Delta messed up from the start by trying to shove 2500 pilots halfway out the door with the UNA status. I'm sure we could have come up with a plan where you run a relatively small displacement bid for the 88 and 777 pilots, but other than that everyone keeps their spot waiting for the recovery. Look how laughable all their "forecasted pilot staffing" numbers looking 6, 12, and even 24 months out were. Once the government cheese starting covering our payroll we should have tried to keep everyone current and qualified to be in position for a recovery. United and American did basically that, and we did not and now we are paying the price. United is resuming hiring next month while even if we wanted to hire we don't have the training capacity to do so until this fall at the earliest.