You are correct it is thread drift but it is important to set the record straight. The non-rev issue is easy. Folks going to work have priority besides that stick with the traditional priorities.

Scoop

Exactly. A "working crew member" flying around equals deadhead positive space. A commuter is not a "working crew member". It is voluntary flying just like flying around to visit grandma. Use the jumpseat. Non rev is for personal travel. My personal travel is just as important as your personal travel. Don't care if you are going to work or not, thats on you.

There wasn't a single 9E pilot that asked for S3A. Delta did that on their own. Understanding why leads us right back to scope. I see why you'd want to avoid the subject, but scope is the ultimate cause. Wouldn't have passengers being bumped by PS commuters if there weren't thousands of contractors flying Delta passengers. Wouldn't have thousands of contractors without selling scope. I'm not trying to be vindictive, but the degradation of their non-contractual benefits was ultimately their own doing.

There was not a scope sales. Comair tried to steal Delta pilot's seniority because they had ALPA merger policy on their side.

The RLA doesn't protect you against code share, I would have done the same thing as Delta pilot's if I were in their shoes, unfortunately.

I’m afraid I don’t understand the relevance of the Comair reference.

As for the rest, I am not here to hang DL pilots for selling scope. That dead horse has been well beaten. I would only say that DL pilots should understand the consequences of their voting decision in regards to scope. Just because they couldn’t foresee the full consequences doesn’t make it anyone else’s fault.

Instead of complaining here and telling 9E crews their families don't matter (not directed at you), come up with a solution that makes business sense to Delta. Business is what prompted DL's decision to implement S3A in the first place.

Regional carriers were once stand alone air lines, that code shared with larger ones. For Delta pilots, the ONLY option to preserve scope was to force a merger. However, that still does not protect you from further code share. So, because Comair/ASA were ALPA, the merger would have been ALPA merger policy. In other words, Delta pilots would have gotten all the regional pilots, in perhaps a DOH SLI, with no guarantee the planes would be sticking around, and not pushed off to another codeshare.

So the choice was, permit branded regional flying in exchange for code share restrictions, or vacate their seat for a regional pilot.

In hindsight, the Delta pilots should have removed ALPA, and gone their own way. This would have prevented half of the bad stuff that happened to them in the following years.

Thank you for explaining.

You are basically telling all our retirees they don't matter!

Care to explain? And when you do, remember that zero 9E pilots asked for S3A or complained about retirees having flight benefits. Any beef you have should be taken up with your management.

A little touchy you bring things up but don't want to discuss unless everyone agreesvwith you