This first paragraph of your post is a good one, tsquare. Times are tough for a lot of good, smart, hard-working people in this country, and we're blessed to have jobs and pretty dang good jobs at that, relative to the general population. It's good to be reminded of that.

But I don't think that truth precludes us from wanting to making our profession better. I'll remind you that Dave Behncke founded ALPA in the middle of the Great Depression, when unemployment was considerably higher than it is today, and the average wage lower in adjusted dollars. Granted, that desire shouldn't cross over into pilot-group-bashing or whining - I've acknowledged that and apologized for my post of several nights ago. But the desire to make things better is not itself a bad thing, regardless of what's happening outside aviation.

Fair enough. apology accepted.

I have never said that our contract was perfect. It would be foolish to say so. But it is a hell of a long way from the abysmal failure that some here claim it to be. Despite what many seem to say, DAL has the best contract currently in the industry. I challenge Jesse, hockey, crunchy captain, ftb... anybody to tell me whose contract they would trade in it's entirety for ours. Wanting to make our lives better is a natural thing, and an honorable goal, and when you are here I hope we can work together towards that end. I want more money.. less work... fewer Rjs.. just like you do. It is just that I am not gonna continually whine about it like some have chosen to repeatedly do. The contract will always be in a state of change. What I think maybe you have more of a handle on than some of the aforementioned is that it seems that you might be a student of history, and believe it or not I appreciate that. Home runs are rare, and I guess it just grates on me when I see some of these posts that label our group as failures and capitulators. So the challenge remains gentlemen, show me the ENTIRE contract that you would trade for..

i was born in the wrong era...that guy is "living the dream" :D

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/airma...pson_long.html

PILOT STORIES: Hopson, William C.
Air Mail Service Began: April 14, 1920
Air Mail Service Ended: September 3, 1927
Total Hours Flown: 4043.25
Total Miles Flown: 413,034
Assignment: College Park, Maryland
April 17, 1920 – Newark, New Jersey
October 1, 1920 - Omaha

One of the best loved and most colorful airmail pilots was William "Wild Bill" Hopson. Before his years as a pilot, Hopson had driven a taxi cab in New York City. "Wild Bill" began flying airmail on April 14, 1920 and left the service when airmail was transferred to private companies. During his years as a Post Office Department airmail pilot, Hopson logged over 4,000 hours of flight time, covering 413,034 miles.

When private companies took over America's airmail service, Hopson signed on with the National Air Transport company, flying Contract Airmail Route #17 between New York and Chicago. Hopson died while flying the mail over that route on October 18, 1928.

I love her long time

Qantas originally was due the first 787-8 in July 2009, the first 787-9 in 2011.

Qantas still hods options but cancelled the firm orders. Chances are any pre-delivery payments will be returned to Qantas and the cancellation penalty and the delay penalty wipe each other out.

I have doubt Delta would commit to a jet that has yet to fly in this fiscal environment, but the 787-9 promises to be a much better jet than the 787-8...

Nothing to see here, the 77-300LR is the most likely next order as it has untouchable CASM.
Even better, it hauls more belly cargo than a 747-8 or an A380...

At 350 seats it fits nicely in the "hole" between our 300 and 400 seat jets...


Cheers
George

Super beat me to it. Here is some more detail:

PILOT STORIES: William Hopson
Three days after "Wild Bill" Hopson was given his first assignment as a pilot at the College Park, Maryland airfield just outside of Washington, D.C., he was transferred to the field at Newark, New Jersey.
Like most of the airmail pilots, "Wild Bill" often had one eye on the mail and another on his flying time. On September 18, 1920, Hopson flew out of Cleveland, Ohio at 2:10 p.m. He noticed the wind was with him more than usual, and saw that he had a chance to make a speed record. Flying at 10,000 feet, Hopson rushed with the wind to Hazelhurst Field, the New York airmail station, where he landed 3 hours, 1 minute later. He chopped 49 minutes off the last record, and was well ahead of the regular traveling time of four and one-half hours for the 452-mile trip.
On October 1, 1920, Hopson was transferred to the Western Division. He had requested the transfer to the Chicago - Omaha route, and he subsequently wrote to Superintendent D. B. Colyer on October 11, thanking him for the new assignment. Colyer, no doubt, hoped that "Wild Bill" might tone down his wild ways on the new route. Colyer had already scolded Hopson in July for making stunts in airmail airplanes. "I have heard numerous reports of your stunting mail ships," Colyer wrote on July 23, 1920. "This is absolutely against regulations and further actions of this kind will merit disciplinary action. Do you not realize that the mail service is a business proposition and everything that is not done in a businesslike manner cannot be tolerated?" Despite the scolding, the tone of the letter was a friendly one.
Hopson made a second speed record while flying in the Western Division. On a flight from Omaha to Chicago, he flew a de Havilland airmail airplane at a then-astounding speed of over 140 mph. He made the 440 miles to the Maywood Field in Illinois in three hours and six minutes. The previous record had been three hours and twelve minutes.
Hopson's popularity with his fellow pilots and management helped him sail through dozens of forced landings without the reprimands and demerits that other pilots would have accrued. In 1926 alone, Hopson made at least 13 forced landings, all of which were signed off on by field managers and superintendents as acceptable. Most of the forced landings were brief landings in which Hopson was forced to wait for better weather or to find his way in low visibility. On November 24 of that year, he was flying his de Havilland, #614 when his top engine cowling came unfastened. Hopson landed, fixed it himself and took off again in 20 minutes.
On September 19, 1925, Hopson's old de Havilland airplane #351 was destroyed in a forced landing near Massena, Iowa. After a storm hit the airplane in flight, stopping his motor, Hopson came down on a piece of land owned by John Martin. When he landed, Hopson tore through a strip of corn field 50 feet wide and 100 yards long. The airplane cracked up on this rough landing, with only part of the tail section recoverable. On another occasion Hopson was criticized by an airmail supervisor for not landing on an airmail field because cows were grazing on it. Hopson flew on to the next field. His choice, the supervisor said, should have been instead to have circled the field, giving the ground crew time to shoo the cattle off the field.
After the airmail service was transferred from the Post Office Department to commercial aviation companies, Hopson went to work flying for the National Air Transportation company on his old Cleveland-New York route. On October 18, 1928, the 38-year-old pilot was killed near Polk, Pennsylvania while flying from New York to Cleveland shortly after midnight. Of the 1,000 pounds of mail Hopson was carrying, only 10 pounds could be salvaged from the burned wreckage. The clock on the instrument panel had stopped at 2:17. Among the mail Hopson was carrying was a large shipment of diamonds, which along with Hopson's fame as a pilot, brought the crash a considerable amount of public attention.
The New York Times reported, that "Mrs. Jeanette Hopson, estranged wife of the flier, said that Billy had expressed the wish that his body be returned to Omaha for cremation, and that he had insisted that she herself take his ashes and scatter them from a airplane."
Click here to go back to the Short Summary of William Hopson.


http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/airma...bpic3small.jpg http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/airma...s/img_plus.gifClick on the photos to view a larger image.



Clipping of Hopson's crash, 1925



Scoop

Glad you are doing committee work where you are and have been in the past. There are never enough people out there to help, so the pilots of DALPA look forward to you bringing your experience and enthusiasm when you are able to flow and finish probation.

I sincerely hope you are able to take off the "conspiracy goggles" before you get here, ALPA/DALPA is not a bogeyman out to harm RJ pilots. Having come from an ALPA commuter before here, the assisitance and expertise provided my previous carrier to obtain many industry leading aspects to the agreement there was first rate. And the "legacy" MEC's were not waiting in the background conspiring to prevent the gains. Additionally the work rules ended up being almost equal to if not better than DAL after BK and definitely better than CAL.

Yeah, the NWALPA negotiated part sucks, it was during BK. It would have been much worse for your career if NWA would have been able to abolish the low end scope altogether (which was threatened via 1113c).

Your enthusiasm for improving the piloting profession is always welcome, your comments and criticism of 2/3 of a pilot group and the many volunteers and popularly elected reps who you are not even a part of yet is not welcome.

As just about every single one of us were given an important piece of advice in the beginning of our careers, sorry no one offered it to you earlier: Keep your mouth shut and your opinions to yourself until you are off probation.

How does your intemperate keyboard warrior internet posting make our profession better?:rolleyes:

"Tempest in a teapot"....thanks for apologizing for the one post.:cool:

Lots of used ones may be coming on the market as well. I can see DAL buying those in short order as well.

Don't see the 787-9 until after 2015.

I would like to publicly apologize to Tea Leoni.

I've recently been unfaithful. I've developed a crush on Leslie Mann.

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/bg/L...1LyeeS48il.jpg