The other day my buddy was running 7 hours behind schedule. Upon arriving in ATL, my buddy, who is not on reserve, was informed that he was being rescheduled and that there was a plane full of people and rest of crew waiting for him. The flight was supposed to have departed 5 hours prior and the rest of his crew had been waiting for him for 3 hours. The flight eventually was cancelled, but could have been completed had it left earlier.

Maybe someone in crew planning/scheduling needs to join someone from our maintenance department in the unemployment line.

Apparently the amount Delta doesn't pay us for cancelled flights isn't enough to cover having to pay for adequate staffing. I really wish I could see the big picture here. This is starting to get embarassing.