Originally Posted by Bucking Bar

Sailing, this is not a hostile post. I'm arguing for an update in the way we think. Lets call it Delta pilots first.
Let us look at this purely from the perspective of what is good for Delta pilots. We don't represent Comair.

Because we failed to merge ASA and Comair Delta flying went from over 91% of block to somewhere around 50 percent from 1999 to 2007. Because we allowed management other options at least 1,200 Delta jobs were lost. Because we failed to keep our flying unified, we allowed Delta management to furlough Delta pilots while Delta was hiring pilots (even street Captains) at their other divisions. Same happened at NWA for much the same reasons. Pilots at Delta lost longevity. Other Delta employees did not.

Fast forward to today. Junior Delta pilots have "job protection" that includes a flow down back to a regional job. I'd bet not one Delta pilots wants to flow down ... they worked for a Delta job and if displaced, they want to continue wearing a Delta uniform.

I believe ALPA benefits Delta pilots. Yet, many Delta pilots desire other representation because of a perceived conflict of interest within ALPA. Our failure to seek unity is a threat to ALPA.

In future negotiations we must now compete, just as the equipment we operate competes on a CASM basis. The greater our pay the greater the incentive to outsource our jobs.

I could give a hoot about Lawson, his stupid letter and his table position on seniority. (I was also in meetings with him and the ASA MEC where Bob Arnold and Danny Utley explained that by paycheck, or equipment type a staple on the bottom would be status quo)

There was a political motivation to highlight the differences with ALPA members at ASA, Comair and other carriers. ALPA's default position should have been unity, but there were reasons why leadership chose a path that split our union. Which brings us to your next point.That's the accepted thinking. It's wrong.

Scope defines who is a Delta pilot and what a Delta pilot operates. Section 1 defines our seniority list.

Management would have received huge windfall had Northwest bought Delta, stripped us of our code and begun distributing our flying to competitive carriers. That did not happen because of Section 1.

We've fallen into a rut where we've let ourselves find justifications for dividing ALPA members and highlighting our conflicts. That reason is outsourcing. It did not start with us. US Air received contractual gains though scope liberalization, then United followed. Contract 2000 was influenced by United's contract, which was substantially built on sharing the expected profitability of outsourcing with management.

If we are done with outsourcing more of our flying, then we don't need to justify divisions among ALPA members. It is old, tired thinking, no more relevant today than McCarthyism.

A strong, unified, ALPA benefits Delta pilots. Give unity a chance.