Originally Posted by SkiboyOO7

Posted this on our company board and sent a cleaned up version to our union leadership.

So I was enjoying a few cold drinks on this hot evening when I got this great email from the union about what we go in return for allowing the company to save MAJOR dollars with a multi-class bid. I will be one of the guys that hits the street in the next few months I am about to enter one of the worst job markets in the history of the US so yes I am kind of frustrated. The guys about to get furloughed are not the only ones that will feel the pain of this decision by the company/Delta everyone in the pilot group will in some way or another feel the pinch of this decision. With that said I am reading this union email over and over again trying to find the positive of this decision by the union agreeing to the multi-class bid but I just can't find it!!

1. "fixing the MSP and DTW crew rooms within 60 days." This is great but if you want to get picky they should already have to do this according to our contract. "The room will accommodate the number of Ready Reserve crews on duty and will be comfortable and adequate." The DTW ready reserve room doesn't even come close to satisfying this requirement and the MSP room is better but when you add in the flight attendants and the pilots that are sitting ready reserve the rooms are not adequate. I am happy the company is finally going to upgrade the crew rooms from the substandard state they are currently in but we as a pilot group shouldn’t have to use pilot furloughs as leverage to get this simple thing accomplished.

2."settling the OE scheduling grievance" from my understanding this grievance came from the company misplacing pilot records after the completion of their PC/Type ride. The company misplaced the paperwork that would allow the pilot to start their OE as soon as space was available on the line. So once again because the company couldn't do the basics we are forced to use furloughed pilots as leverage to settle a grievance that should be an easy out of mediation fix.

3. "allowing voluntary furloughed pilots to accrue longevity and be eligible for unemployment" I think this is a great idea and this will give people on the fence about taking the voluntary furlough a little push. This makes me think even more about the voluntary furlough and I think it will do the same for many of us.

4. "allowing pilots to be awarded TOWOP and HTLs for greater than 2 months" this is positive at face value in the fact that it will mitigate more furloughs in the future. The problem with this is what does the LOA say and can the company take all of these programs away at a moments notice because of a force majeure clause. From a management perspective if the economy continues to tank and they identify a need for another pilot reduction I would stop these programs and cut down to the bare minimum needed for normal operation. The only reason these are being offered is because there is hope that the economy will pick up in the near future and we need to be staffed to jump on any increase in flying possible. So if that hope of increased flying in the future goes away these programs will be the first to go and we negotiated a money saving multi-class bid for nothing.

5. I hate people that complain about a situation but never give any recommendations of what they think would make it better so here is my attempt. Fight to get furloughed guys health benefits for 6 months after furlough or extended flight benefits (which I don't think we should even have to fight for considering the other wholly owned regional get the same treatment). I like the idea previously posted about reducing the amount of ready reserve that each pilot can be issued in a month. What about instead of 1 and a 1/2 hour call out for a reserve we get a 3 hour callout or maybe even extended 12 hour call out? 12 hour call out would be great for the guys that are going to be displaced out of their current base and will be forced to commute. There are so many things to fight for that would benefit the WHOLE pilot group.

I have had nothing but great experiences with our union and I think they are doing the best they can in this situation but I don't think this agreement is in the best interest of all the pilots in our group at Mesaba. The multi-class bid will save the company money at the price of changing many of our pilot’s quality of life. It seems that this agreement benefits the guys that won't be furloughed on the backs of the furloughed I do feel like I have been used as a pawn in a poorly managed chess game.