The company dangled their carrot and AR took the bait. MG had one mission, to make it look like he was ready to get a deal done. He bluffed. AR reported it back as "things are moving" and pilots stayed put. MG got folks to stay during the summer busy season and now that we are approaching fall he is done.

HOWEVER. This tactic wont work long term. They will still need pilots for their growth plans. He only delayed for a bit, but now that attrition is about to spool up again we will be back in the same position come spring. He fooled a bunch this time. Will it work next time?

A pilot in the top 200, a CA, is leaving for Delta. I happen to know him & he’s among the smartest most astute people I know. For anyone still on the fence this should be a final wake-up call. This, along with your union leadership essentially telling you to build up your strike fund & expect to wind up walking a picket line.

He's a steward and grievance coordinator as well.

We will never be allowed to strike. Take that to the bank.

Agreed, just like last time.


Here is a link for the people that weren’t around back then. Link




The company really doesn’t want to give up their cheap labor competitive advantage. No soft pay for you! Come back, 4 years.

Great dude. Delta is lucky to have him. Our loss.

The quotes from MG back then sound very familiar to what we've been told recently. He has no intention of actually doing right by his employees. Get those apps out. This place is a dumpster fire aboard a sinking ship. It will never change.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it was a pleasure flying with you all, thanks for the guidance and mentorship! I start at Delta this Tuesday. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

AR said a month ago that the lack of communication is because a lot of stuff is getting done. A month later the quarterly union meeting basically says nothing is getting done and the company isn't showing up to meetings. So which is it? The communication on both sides is horrible. It's one thing if the company stonewalls us... but you'd think with the extra assessment we're paying for negotiations, we could at least get some regularly scheduled communications like every other union (ahem ALPA union) is doing right now during their negotiations.

You probably should replay the update from a month ago. The exact quote was "when it's quiet, there is a lot going on." Then he talked about grievances, arbitrations, staffing, section 25 meetings and a declined MOU for most of the update. I'm not sure how you twisted that into contract negotiations having progress. Expect 4+ years regardless of what your hear or you think you heard. I've been calling that for a year now and it's proving to be very accurate.

The sad part is a lot of the same people on the fence about leaving that fell for the company's tactics to get you to stay and work the summer for half pay will probably fall for the same setup again early next year when the negotiation needle moves a little. Had those pilots just left a year ago they would be in the big D 11 month upgrade class making 400k (with DC and profit sharing) while negotiating a contract to make 500k. Instead some of these same pilots are heading for upgrade here in DSM/ATW/FNT to make 160k while attempting to commute home with single days off.