Originally Posted by Bucking Bar (Post 1291883)

IamTubleweed,

I agree with Sailingfun on this one ... and to continue his point ... Our Reps were assailed in the ATL Pilot Lounge by senior pilots asking, "how much money did the reserve improvements cost us?" ... "why didn't we take that 1% in pay?" ... "they are junior and not the majority ... why?"

Our Reps logically stated that Delta's reserve pay was below industry standard and asked, "shouldn't we be industry standard?" ... Capt Bagadoughnuts responds "I don't care about reserve..." He, and his buddies, thought ALV for reserves and 72 hours a month was ripping them off.

Contract 2012 had a lot in it for the junior guys ... incremental recovery of our flying, more mainline aircraft, and much better reserve pay for starters. A case could be made that it did more for the junior guys than the senior guys. Our reserve pay was below industry average, so it had the farthest to go.

Originally Posted by Bucking Bar (Post 1291889)

Stole this from the Sully thread, but it applies to the "Pilot Shortage" posts on this thread.

Sully is exactly right (and I paraphrase) ... "like any Democracy with a free market we will have enough pilots when pilots are paid enough ..."

Is the U.S. facing a pilot shortage? - CBS News Video

Sully will never have to buy a cup of coffee in my presence. He is on the very short list of people I'd like to meet in my life.

Originally Posted by 80ktsClamp (Post 1291717)

I love how I've flown more than anyone in my category, and because of that I haven't sat a short call yet. So, I'm in Raw group 2.. the only one, but yet I get short call tomorrow. So, I'm first up to go even though everyone else has flown less and is in another bucket.

We've got to put short call assignments in with the raw groups. Unbelievable.

Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 1291866)

Your post is one of the more ignorant I have seen on here. Reserve is first off not just a junior issue. Pilots with 3 digit seniority numbers sit reserve. Reserve is spread throughout the list. Reserve is also the most improved section of the contract in the last 25 years. No other section even comes close in terms of quality of life changes.
Dalpa has over the years done things never considered by other unions for junior pilots. They were the first to cover medical for furloughed pilots.

They were the first to get furloughed time counted for years of service for pay steps and retirement.

When the retirement plan was frozen the company wanted to replace it with a flat 9 percent DC plan to each pilot. Dalpa changed that to a targeted plan to provide substantially more money to the junior pilots and often 0 percent to the senior guys.

When the retirement plan was terminated they went to a flat DC plan rather then try and balance it back with another targeted plan.

The note money which was distributed to offset the retirement lost in the termination would have gone almost totally to the senior pilots if distributed on a straight percentage basis using the lost retirement of each pilot. DALPA felt that would send to much to the top 50 percent of the pilots so they changed every pilots FAE to 205,000 per year in the calculations to move money more down the list. That still left most going to the top half so they added a years of service minimum distribution.

They modified greenslips to include seniority only in the first one awarded a change from all awards to 2 awards and now 1.

The pay structure has been changed and new hire pilots have received far greater overall raises then any other portion of the list. No more 1500/ 1800 dollars a month flat rate pay ect..

Since the 1113 contract some of the single most expensive improvements such as elimination of recovery flying for training trip drops and increases in furlough protection were negotiated for the junior pilots.

I could go on and on but am tired of typing.

Originally Posted by Free Bird (Post 1291930)

For example, if a senior reserve guy bids to work a weekend, that person will still work over the weekend. This issue in my opinion is that the company doesn't schedule enough pilots over the weekends. Holding weekends off is everything with the new reserve system. If the staffing on weekends was better I think that many junior reserve folks would have a better QOL.

Originally Posted by Gunfighter (Post 1291946)

If more pilots are on call, this decreases QOL.

Originally Posted by Bucking Bar (Post 1291889)

Stole this from the Sully thread, but it applies to the "Pilot Shortage" posts on this thread.

Sully is exactly right (and I paraphrase) ... "like any Democracy with a free market we will have enough pilots when pilots are paid enough ..."

Is the U.S. facing a pilot shortage? - CBS News Video

Sully will never have to buy a cup of coffee in my presence. He is on the very short list of people I'd like to meet in my life.

Originally Posted by Falcon7 (Post 1291478)

I'm looking to get a new headset, I've been looking at the Bose A20, the Telex 850, Sennheiser HMEC 46 and also Telex's new Ascend headset.

Anyone have any experience with these?

The Bose appears to be the best, but I'm concerned that the passive noise reduction will block out the other pilot, not just general conversation, but also checklists. Maybe this headset is better suited for GA aircraft or turboprops then our jets. Is that a valid concern?

Does the Sennheiser and Telex 850 do an adequate reducing noise?

And what about this Ascend headset from Telex. Looks interesting in that it uses the aircraft power, not batteries, like the 850, but can also be used in the back of the aircraft listening to music on your iPhone or watching a movie. Seems a little more substantial than the 850.

I'd be interested in hearing about any experience with these or other headsets in our Delta aircraft.

Originally Posted by Free Bird (Post 1291930)

For example, if a senior reserve guy bids to work a weekend, that person will still work over the weekend. This issue in my opinion is that the company doesn't schedule enough pilots over the weekends. Holding weekends off is everything with the new reserve system. If the staffing on weekends was better I think that many junior reserve folks would have a better QOL.

Originally Posted by Free Bird (Post 1291950)

More reserves at a given time makes everyones QOL better.