Originally Posted by
Carl Spackler
This is my first post, as I have wanted to study the facts for a while. I am around 500 on the NWA list - hired in 1983. NWA is my 3rd airline and I've been furloughed 5 times in my career.
The reason most NWA guys could not accept the ratio proposed by DAL is quite simple. I am 52 years old and nearly everyone senior to me at NWA is older. The majority of the top 500 at DAL are in their 40's. Even if DAL's proposed ratio was one for one, that means around 500 DAL people in their 40's would be senior to me. At NWA, if I make it until 60, I retire as #9. With a one for one ratio with DAL pilots who are younger than me, the best I could hope for is retiring at #509. The same result occurs when you run this sampling back to the top 1000, top 1500, etc.
It is everyone's hope that if they make it until 60, there is a chance to make it to the top. At NWA, it was a possibility. With DAL's proposed ratio, this is an impossibility. This most unusual demographic at DAL is what makes a simple ratio inequitable.
Carl
I'm wondering where you got your data. I'm just under #1000 at Delta, age 50, and hired in 1987. I was one of the youngest in my class, as we were hiring a lot of Eastern pilots then. You're at about 10% on your list, I'm at about 13%. Our projected list has me moving to #89 by age 65 (pre-merger).
While you've obviously put more work into these calculations than I have, the numbers you come up with just don't make sense to me. I would hope that the MECs model this problem using data that both groups have verified.
As a 747 captain, you should see a QOL improvement as soon as you're under our contract; we fly our "ultra long-haul" flights with two captains and two F/Os. The number of 747 captains required will double.