Lets not assume anything. Lets wait and see what transpires over the next 12 months. DAL has to be out of compliance to file a grievance. We only assume that this will happen, there are many variables here, and just because they are taking delivery of a jets does not mean that they will 1) fly them, or 2) use them as operational spares.

12 months is a long time for a lot to happen. We have a matrix in the PWA that was recently agreed too as a protection of getting a new narrow body jet for these 70 RJ's.

88 717s coming too along with parking a lot more 50 seaters. Merry Xmas!

It isn't a suprise to me. I knew it was coming as soon as I saw 62% in favor.

Exactly. The will of the majority of our pilots approved this. It should not surprise anyone.

Exactly!!!!

I second...

The reality is airline pilots as a whole have been very selfish negotiating incremental pay raises all the while selling scope to do so. So here the industry sits, 14 years post contract 2000, DCI is getting 70 more 90-seat jets (sorry Johnso, I refuse to call them 70+ seaters ), airlines #1 and #3 will follow suit with similar scope clauses, we are close to purchasing a foreign carrier staffed by foreigners, our west coast domestic operation is farmed out to another carrier operating 737-900's and people actually believed we would hire in droves and buy widebodies; seriously?

While I don't believe in a union that acts as a parasite and bleeds a host dry, I do not condone the instability we have created in career progression. The fact that a guy has to take a $100k pay cut in pursuit of greener pastures and then rot on the bottom of the new list is unionism at its finest. You cannot have it both ways, unionism and cooperative engagement without creating a caste system, essentially keeping the bottom 25% of a seniority list hostage; yes there are 13-year 737 reserves at AA and it is not looking much different here.

So we have (some of us) embraced sacrifice to get the debt down to $10 billion and then as we approach we place a $3.4 billion jumbo-RJ order and $600 million dollar foreign carrier investment within ONE WEEK! As pilots our problem is not just out debt, it's our management that has cancelled industry leading 787 orders and gradually, minimally invested in our mainline operation all the while spending a decade worth of profits elsewhere; gentlemen this is what happens when you "sell scope."

If you think anything is happening at Delta, I am sorry but you are only correct in that it is happening outside Delta. I'm sure at some point ALPA will endorse foreign ownership just to get mainline jobs back! That's another slippery slope in and of itself.

I still say in 12 years, it is very possible for me to be number 6000 out of 9000 with Delta never furloughing a single pilot. Yes that will be 17 years at Delta to get to 66 percent of the list. This is during the time of what is supposedly the most retirements in history. For those of you that are naive, we have no plans to hire a single pilot in 2013.

Delta didn't spend anywhere close to $3 billion on this deal, probably half that.

Patience grasshopper. The ink dried on our PWA just a few months ago. It takes time to implement the deal.

The simple fact is there will be a blockhour shift to the mainline from DCI. This is not a theory-it MUST happen BEFORE they can begin flying their shiny new RJ's.

More blockhours at mainline will require more pilots. It's not an instant gratification deal. If you can take a deep breath and back away from te keyboard (not just aimed at you hockey), you may see that the sky is not falling.

The pieces that we agreed to are moving into place and we will see the benefits shortly.

Nobody likes to see a bi RJ order, but view it in context (parking a ton of DCI capacity and shifting it to mainline) and the future suddenly doesn't look so bleak.

~LeineLodge
(A happy Delta pilot)