Originally Posted by TOGA LK

Having flown with a few S. guys I am convinced that we as a group can move forward to provide the safest operation in the industry. While I absolutely despised our former page long taxi checklist and procedures so anal that it dictated the exact order in which an FMS had to be loaded (yes the dots in SOPA/SMAC represented a particular order), I openly embrace a quieter/safer deck on taxi out. On the other end of the spectrum I sense less SA in a round dial DC-9 with one FDRA bouncing around the cockpit," Hey Bill, what was the airway after FLM?"

There have been some good and not so great changes. Unfortunately for the PMDAL pilots, only fNWA pilots will have had experience with both systems. Succesful integration of best practices will be the result of level-headed fNWA pilots in their presentation and equally open minded PMDAL pilots brushing aside tradition and leaving politics in the employee parking lot. Hopefully these items will be changed to a hybrid of former procedures in the interest of safety down the road; that will be the ultimate signature and trademark of a group of experienced professionals.

Aside from the integration issues I would like to see Delta pull a consistent profit and create a network plan that is the envy of the industry. The past few quarterly statements have been dismal, a reversal in our revenue stream and some movement would get most of the pilots out of the doldrums of the SLI as we would all finally get a glimpse of what hundreds of unpaid hours of transition were for, a better future. Here's to going forward with best practices in the name of safety and attaining profitability.