Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 1310261)

Yet the facts don't back up the posts on this forum. You can't compare a airline that had 25 aircraft and now has 43 (HA) with a airline that has 700 aircraft in a growth discussion. Sure there has been some growth at small niche airlines. Virgin has been stagnate for a while. AF is shrinking and going to spin off a bunch of flying to a low cost new airline if they even survive in their current form. The mainline block hours at Delta are almost exactly the same as at the merger despite the posts here. Seniority list numbers are down but the reasons have been explained. Working pilot numbers which is what counts are not down.
Since the merger with NW the economy has been one of the worst overall since the great depression. Show me a airline with operations comparable to Delta that has been in a large growth mode since 2007. Emerates is perhaps the closest example but they are a very different operation from Delta. Every airline in our class has furloughed. We did not.
There is no doubt that there has been stagnation to the extreme. You say its all DALPA's fault and I think its the economy. We are each entitled to our opinions. I tend to be a results oriented person. Since the merger with NW Delta has not furloughed a single pilot. We are one of two US airlines to achieve meaningful improvements in our contract. We will be up over 30 percent in pay over that time period. The next best airline in the industry will be SW up 7 percent. No one else will be up a dime until the UAL contract is ratified. We have made numerous improvements in quality of life in the contract. When I look at results I always compare them to how other subsets are doing. By any measure we have been light years more successful then other comparable airlines.
We just signed a contract that so far is delivering exactly as promised. We are adding pilots, we are adding Captains jobs. For the first time we have meaningful growth. The last two bids added net Captains jobs and the next bid will really have a substantial addition. That will be followed by similar bids for the next several years all based on growth in mainline block hours. At that point retirements kick in with a bang. Not one other US airline has a future looking as bright.
Again everyone is entitled to their opinion. My opinion is that we weathered one of the worst periods in US history for airlines far better then anyone else and are now poised for the growth we all are desperate to see. If the economy turns around the resulting movement could be far better then the eighties boom times.
in 2005 I was planning my new career after Delta shut down. I tend to be a optimist but I could not imagine Delta would be where it is today back then and that was without knowing that the future held a massive economic crash. Again for me its all about results.

Originally Posted by alfaromeo (Post 1310371)

The American pilots just about blew themselves up in this bankruptcy, they managed finally to pull their butts out of the bonfire at the last minute. So I am labeled an arrogant prick when I try to tell them the way the world is rather than the way they want it to be. Maybe there is now some ex post facto consolation from the fact that they did exactly what I said they should do. I don't for a minute think my advice changed their union, but is it arrogant to give an opinion that proves correct, even it is just on a web board?

Originally Posted by XtremeF150 (Post 1310367)

Saw that too. Makes me wonder if we have had that much attrition since the 2000 hired in 2010 or if it is for another reason. Lord knows it takes longer to train a pilot than a FA so hire some of us already ;)

Oh thanks again to all who helped with my training questions. Always one of the best places to find obscure info.

Originally Posted by 80ktsClamp (Post 1310377)

That's hardly the way it is, alfa... and you know it.

You take a swing, and I swing back and vice versa. When has your opinion every been suppressed on here? Many times your "facts" that you spew are laced with as many untruths as you accuse others of throwing.

You aren't attacked by me because of your position- When you're right, I acknowledge it. It is because of your attitude.

Originally Posted by Denny Crane (Post 1310398)

Then dispute him with facts not innuendo!!!

Denny

Originally Posted by 80ktsClamp (Post 1310383)

Kanye, Ima let you finish.... but are you wearing a leather skirt?

Originally Posted by Bainite (Post 1310340)

Had lunch with a FedEx guy today who happened to be hired there the same month I was hired at NWA. He's very senior on the right seat of the 777 and could hold capt on the A300 if he wanted. I'm years away from being able to hold captain on anything anywhere at Delta or getting near the right seat of the 777 or 747. My relative category seniority for ATL M88B will be about the same as his in MEM 777B. Also have buds at SWA hired the same timeframe who have been capts for several years and a bud hired at Continental who just upgraded to 757 capt.
Just gets old hearing from Sailing et al how much better we are doing than everybody else when it sure doesn't feel that way and my W2 lags so far behind those of my contemporaries at other airlines. My whine and moan for the day.

Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 1310395)

Mainline block hours are going up. That requires additional flight attendant and pilots. We were more overstaffed then the flight attendants and have the long term mil leave pilots coming back so they did not hire the 100 or so pilots they were considering this fall. The hiring will come. Why is that so hard for everyone to believe that the block hours are increasing?