BlaneO

I just watched Ed's townhall from today and was enfuriated by it. I should have counted how many he times he said that 40% of frontline employees took unpaid leaves, sacrificing themselves for the good of the company, and that now it's time for the pilots to step up. He's a finance officer and should know better than to spout such deceptive lies.

News flash... NONE of those employees were unpaid! My girlfriend is a 27-yr FA, and she's very savvy, but she actually SAVED money this summer while on her "unpaid leave" because of the NY unemployment and CARES money. The frontline employees that took "unpaid leave" were either made whole (or close enough to not feel real pain) by the government assistance programs. Delta essentially took the CARES money to cover employee costs, then turned around and sent 40% of their employees onto government programs (an employee-cost double dip).

There is no program to adequately replace a pilot's salary when they go on an "unpaid leave." The only option which has had any success in the industry is when the company itself steps up to fill that income gap, knowing that the government programs are insufficient. But that's a SIL, and Delta won't have it.

But comparing the 40% who "sacrificed" to save Delta to the 12% REAL earnings losses by pilots is a complete apples-to-oranges comparison, and Ed knows better. At least, I hope he does. His words were pure political spin that did not address the financial decisions he was advocating.

buckleyboy

I am sure we all have similar stories.
Mine is I ran into a senior mama FA in the Home Depot parking lot. Helped her load her car. She asked me if I was taking leave. Nope. She claimed to be making more more by not working. Good for her. I/we do not have that luxury.
Put that in your Ambien cocktail and sleep on it, Mr. Bastian.

AUP09

Small point, but you should consider that many salaried employees also took (and are continuing to take) "unpaid" leaves and the unemployment programs did not adequately replace their lost wages.

Also consider that the percent of pay being lost by many non-pilot workers is much higher than 12%, even for those that received unemployment benefits for a period of time. If you want to compare year over year changes in total compensation, there are "regular" employees that will be down more than 40%.

Scoop

All true but the OP is still 100% valid. Management has been falsely trying to paint the Pilots as both greedy and uncaring. We all know that we are in fact both greedy and caring.

Scoop

Jaww

I want more money but I want you to have more money too.

connollc

BlaneO, dude. NAILED it!

20Fathoms

Perhaps it’s time Ed took an unpaid leave. Sacrifice for the good of the company etc etc. And that includes stock and bonuses (his salary is a small portion of his total
compensation). Time to step up and lead by example.

skidmark

Great idea

GucciBoy

Would you follow his example if he did? Ed is good at his job and is not unskilled labor. That’s the distinction we are trying to make for ourselves. Ed is still being paid the vast majority of his compensation because the company needs him, and they can’t just go out tomorrow and hire someone better for the job. Same with us.

So while I think Ed is wrong to tell us to make the same “sacrifices” as some non-cons, telling him to do it isn’t the answer. Making him admit that we are closer to him than a baggage handler in the overall scheme of things is what we need.

Ursula

I'm not sure how you conclude Ed's pay. He gave up his salary and his options if he has any are probably worthless because the strike price is too high. His RSUs are worth half what they were issued at, so his total compensation is down at least 50%. Meanwhile he's still working his hours. By that example you'd be flying an 80 hour line at 40 hour pay.