That guy was DD...an A300 captain.

I decided to hold my tongue...I thought the "um...okay...thanks for your input" was enough.

He is not alone in his sentiment. As I mentioned, this is why I am such a fan of some of our reps...several who have personally repsonded to letters expressing similiar sentiment. The MEC is committed to doing this as a unified group.

While it would controversial with some to take a pay cut to protect the bottom X guys for a while, here's why it is a good investment. It isnt' just about being altruistic or team oriented...in fact it is just good business. A guy who has been on the street two years and comes back is NOT going to be worried about not picking up DPs, and won't give a flip about not picking up all he can during negoatiations. (You guys got yours--now I have to make some up!) He or she probably wouldn't cringe a bit if the company came after retirement pay or health care, and his compulsion to stand and fight for the guys who so happily put him on the street would likely be nil. How do I know this? Look at what happened at AA when the B scale came into fruition. That divided the force so much that years later as the "killer Bs" came into power that AA pilots typically lagged NWA, UAL, US Air, and DAL contracts for years in pay. It was also just a miserable (so I hear) place to work. We don't need that. We can pull together for 18-24 months, share a little pain, and come through all of this with our collective heads held high.

That guy making the comments? Those are water cooler statements. The CONTRACT...already defined, approved, and enacted by a majority of the crew force--gives pretty clear guidance (although not perfectly clear in a few cases) on the spirit and intent of how FDX pilots will deal with the threat of BLG adjustments and furloughs.

And to the whole "I need the extra $2400 for my high five..."--nothing in the contract guarantees anyone gets to max out their retirement. Its a goal we all want, and nothing wrong with it--but it is not contractual. And sorry dude--I'm a whole lot more sympathetic to the young family in Olive Branch keeping their mortgage paid and groceries on the table than I am you securing another $1500 a month in retirement benefits.

The good news--for those keeping score at home--is it ain't just the junior block reps who feel this way. Nobody writes me nasty letters or whines to me about BLG--but the block 1 and 2 reps deal with this regularly. If you are their FO/RFO on a trip sometime--ask them about it. I suspect you'll end up buying them a beer or two....