sailingfun

A great idea, except for one small issue called the RLA. I don't believe there is any legal way to try and limit pilot numbers.

On the subject of restoration I am all for it and would love to see it. It would of course mean that pay rates at Delta would have to double from current rates and other expenses soar. A true restoration contract would move total pilot expenses at Delta from about 2.2 billion a year to 4.5 to 5 billion a year. As a senior pilot I would love to see that happen.
If however I was a junior pilot I might have a different perspective on the issue. In the time I have been in this industry airlines that have allowed their costs to get out of line with other airlines have withered on the vine. Those with a advantage have prospered. Two easy examples. AMR had a large cost advantage over other airlines from 85 to the early 90's. They grew at a rate almost never seen at a large airline. When there costs jumped up higher then other airlines that trend reversed itself. The second obvious example is SWA. Low costs gave them sustained growth year after year. Then through a odd set of circumstances they lost their historical employee cost advantage. That also ended the decades long run of consistant growth.
Delta management does not care what they pay us at Delta. They only care what they pay us relative to the competition. This is a brutally cost competitive industry. The only real path to restoration is steps taken over time that other airlines follow. We can certainly open for a restoration contract. I can tell you what will follow. Management will say, Thank you for your opener. We will present our counter off in June. We will say June is 6 months away. Thats crazy. Management will say you are mistaken. We meant June of 14 not 13. They will simply refuse to negotiate. The NMB will allow them to do this because they will view us as not negotiating in good faith. Don't think so? Look only as far as American.
I always asked those that want nothing short of full restoration to provide a plan to achieve that within the tremendous restrictions the RLA imposes on us. I have never been given a single answer to how. I have only been told wants. Big difference there.

I think the strategy that will put more money over time in my pocket and allow for continued growth for the junior pilots is to take a more pragmatic approach. We open for a contract that will be industry leading but not way out of line. We let management know that this is contingent on getting a contract done on or near the amendable date. We make some nice gains begin getting those gains quickly. We sign a short duration contract like they used to be. Hopefully 3 years but no longer then 4. That allows other airlines to hopefully leapfrog us and puts us back at the table in 2016 going for the second big bite of the apple. If we open for a restoration contract we will still be negotiating and working under the current contract in 2016 without question. Thumping our chests and demanding restoration may make us feel good but I don't see any way it puts the most money and quality of life in my families pocket.