Originally Posted by
Splash
As soon as Southwest pilots negotiate a higher 737 rate than the Delta C2K rate, we should hold them up as worthy negotiators. They are still about $50 per our below the C2K rates.
Time for a reality check Splash. First,we are a LONG way from C2K rates and there is no plan whatsoever from DALPA to get us there. The only literature we've received thus far is numerous dissertations on how to read financials, cash flows and industry specific data. In other words...how to understand negotiations through the eyes of management. That is of course my opinion, but there's no other reason for DALPA to waste our time with this unless that's their reasoning.
Second, I do not hold SWAPA up as worthy negotiators. I only give them credit for holding up their end of a relationship that is the most worthy in the industry. A relationship based on trust, mutual respect, and mutual understanding of what critical skills each side brings to the airline to make it a success. I would love to have that relationship at Delta. But we do not have it. Many here think that we'll have it if we just run from every battle with management, but that is just denial of the obvious. And this denial has brought us to the point of having a contract that doesn't lead the industry in even one area. Not one.
Originally Posted by
Splash
Can you tell us why they have not been able to negotiate a rate that comes close to the C2K rate, negotiated a decade ago?
Rates alone don't mean very much to me, and they shouldn't to anyone. What SHOULD matter to everyone is your take home pay and how many days you are away from your family to achieve that take home pay. Southwest pilots' take home pay is something we should all envy. Even compared to our C2K 737 rates, their take home pay and the number of days away from home was very close to us back then.
Carl