honest question: what lesson are you hoping people learned from this that would apply to a DZ retirement carve out?

Primary issue? It means thats my first concern.

Longevity pay ain’t longevity pay if positions pay separately. 12 years at DAL is 12 years. Delta hires captains, amirite?

Scope protection is the tide that lifts most boats. With appropriate pay, this career offers plenty for retirement, even if it isn’t all specifically tagged “retirement.” Everyone has different needs - save or spend as much as you’d like. My limited polling leads me to believe the true dead-zoners are either gone or so limited in numbers as to be a small “special interest” group that needn’t drive all of this pilot group’s priorities. Obviously, vote for the representatives and TAs you find most appealing. Before covid, plenty of pilots were leaving early to sail off into the proverbial sunset - that tells me the retirement pain has had abundant time to heal. I know it isn’t what was “promised”, and we’ve all now seen what “promises” to new hires are worth in this industry. Painful lessons all around, for sure.

Scope, QOL, pay, in that order.

Unless someone can give me hard data on DZers, such as who they are, how far down below retirement glide path they are, and how many they are, then I tend to assume that there aren’t any left and the plus up is just a money grab by senior pilots about to retire.

I would welcome having my mind changed, and shown what the actual need is, but I haven’t seen any real data at all. Until then, I’m not interested in the most senior of us blowing smoke up my *** about how my career will be so much better than theirs and that there will never be a hard time for me. Because we literally are in a hard time, and the ONLY reason I’m not furloughed is because of the federal government.

Agreed. Pay is worthless if you're wife leaves with the kids and it takes you three days to notice. Narrow body schedules are a joke. I had better QOL at the regionals (yes, for a lot less pay).​​​​​​​

Deadzoner (singular) retirement is not an issue. The VEOP was your (and my) chance at earlier than 65 retirement with company paid income.

simply put - you had your chance for a different retirement. You didn't take it. You can't have your bread and your roses too. Sorry JB.

We haven't heard much about the MCBP lately other than, "We're working on it."

I'm curious how this pans out.

Exactly! Still waiting for the next Black Swan event since 9/11. Maybe the 3rd or 4th spike in COVID this fall?? (which would be 20 years since 9/11).