Originally Posted by
AV8ER13
FWIW--Whatever stance you take, ALL hires After 2001 (2002 and on) should have been DOH. I think it is crazy that the most junior pilot at DAL jumps ahead of pilots hired DEC 2000 at NWA. That is not even close to reasonable. How can you tell me that DAL would not have furloughed or parked more planes. I hope the panel has more common sense then the person that put this list together.
They do AV8ER, I really think they do. All 3 are very experienced judges. DAL's proposed list is the same methodology used with Pan Am and Western Airlines. Both were on the verge of liquidation, and DAL agreed to ratio these pilots into the seats of aircraft they brought to the merger at the expense of decades of Date of Hire. Given the state of their airlines being days away from liquidation, these pilots were probably grateful to have any job.
NWA is different; to wit:
NWA has a higher market capitalization than DAL, even though NWA is 2/3 the size of DAL.
NWA had higher earnings last quarter than DAL, and will have again this quarter soon to be announced.
NWA has an equal amount of unrestricted cash to that of DAL even though we are 2/3 the size of DAL.
And finally, our fleet mix is very comparable.
For these reasons, it would be historic in arbitrations if they were to agree on such a lopsided proposal. Just remember, if the DAL guys did NOT start with such an extreme proposal, their members would want their heads.
This is just early round negotiations. Inside, the arbitrators are probably just smiling and shaking their heads - just as they will after they hear our proposal.
Let not your heart be troubled.
Carl