TSquare,

One of the economic factors that make our outsourcing successful is the destruction of union members' longevity.

Yes, at the DCI Carrier I worked for, the President (a Delta employee) would come in to recurrent and tell us that we had to leave when we got 5 years of longevity, that we senior Captains (6 to 7 years) were "killing the airline."

Those who have not worked in the this environment, do not appreciate just what these words mean to someone from a regional, not to mention the 20 year Captain who is getting displaced to First Officer. They are quitting, just as I quit following the frustration of losing my Captain seat when two dozen jets were moved to a non union replacement group.

The political make up of our new hires is going to be remarkably different from those Delta has hired in the past. Most will have a decade of fighting whipsaw and understand why we need a union which pays reverence to its core principles.