Originally Posted by
tsquare
Oh please don't try to spin the claim and stock as some sort of gift. In case you haven't noticed, our DB retirement is gone. I'm 50 sir.. in what is affectionately known as the DD zone. But since you brought it up, I am not complaining about the note/claim.. and I think Lee did a great job in obtaining those... but please don't try spinning alpa as having manhandled management on that. Like I have said before, I am willing to give him a chance at national. But I DEMAND that he reign in the expenses there starting with his own. Period. Anything shy of that.. and I fill out a card. And $45K is an insult.. not a correction. That's not even a good start. And while we are at it, there is nothing on the next contract to pay for.. all have been paid for well in advance, so walk down the hall and tell the negotiators not to ask the standard question "what are you willing to give up for that", because that garbage ain't gonna fly anymore. And tell Heiko that the gators' run is OVER!
And yet with this TREMENDOUS (some would say catastrophic) givebacks to the company, we still can't persuade our union to do a cost/benefit analysis to see if the RJs REALLY ARE cheaper than the mainline.
Nor make a statement about attempting to recapture the flying.
Nor even make a statement in support of those pilot groups who are trying.
Sure, AMR has stagnation. They also have their A fund, work rules and control of their outsourced flying.
We also have stagnation. We have fewer pilots now than when the merger closed. Sure, we've hired, but not even enough to make up for those who have retired.
In spite of this tremendous flexibility we gave up to the company, along with pay rates and retirement, there are 255 DC-9 replacement jets. 255. At 8 pilots per aircraft, that is 2,040 pilots NOT on the DAL list, and that is a HUGE hit for every pilot on our list, because the number of pilots behind you is more important than the number in front.
That's 1,020 pilots who didn't see the largest percentage increase that they see in their career (an upgrade). That's 1,020 pilots who didn't see an improvement in their QoL when the others upgraded. And that's 12,000 pilots who didn't see overall improvements because there are now less pilots behind them.
Take a look around. You HAVE been outsourced. You now have competing pilots flying your routes. Those "RJs" are flying between such 'regional' cities as Detroit to Houston.
And they want more. The new FT&DT rules will make RJs increasingly expensive, but they will push, and push to make sure those jets can fly their capacity of 85-95 seats.
Choose wisely...
Nu