Originally Posted by
xj200capt
I can tell you that I believe the stories 9E pilots are telling about the JM and extensions. I don't know anyone who doesn't. I can tell you without checking with my rep that these staffing issues will not be supported by any XJ pilot, negotiators, or anyone. Your statement is profoundly wrong.
Word from our negotiators is that the XJ guys don't think the JM/Ext language is near as important as our guys. It doesn't matter if your guys "won't stand for it." If the language isn't there to protect you, the company would leave you with little choice. Or you could do like we do here now, refuse and have a meeting with the base manager on a weekly basis. My info is from our negotiators, so it's profoundly wrong, there's a serious misunderstanding between your negotiators and ours.
Again I will say that when Pinnacle Holdings bought XJ there were conditions added. Things like staffing levels and training. There is even a Delta attorney at the negotiations observing so that things like these are being dealt with. I keep talking about leverage. In speaking to my reps and the communications we get, the leverage won't come just from the MEC's. But with Delta and Continental unhappy, the Delta attorney present, and the constant under staffing...this is where the pressure is coming from.
I've been hearing about pressure from Delta for a while. Before that it was pressure from NWA. What's your source that this pressure and these conditions exist? Have you seen the agreements between Pinnacle Corp and Delta? I'd love to read them myself.
The XJ JNC didn't come in like the Gestapo. None of us said we would change the world in 3 weeks. I certainly didn't think management was quaking in their boots with the thought of dealing with us. But I think that with the mainlines unhappy this will cause things to happen. Cheaper isn't better if you can't perform. Also I am NOT stating 9E pilots are lazy. Far from it. But cheaper isn't always the best answer and staffing properly is VERY important to all of XJ.
As long as flights are leaving on-time and completion factor is up, Delta doesn't give a rat's rear end about what goes on here. If anything, that's been beaten into our heads. I was once a believer in pressure from the mainline side of things. 5 years later, I've stopped believing in that fairy tale.