Two wrongs don't make a right. Guys, the single best thing anyone can do here is take a long hard look at the elements you and I have control over (ie voting on contracts that allow more productivity and having a union that refuses to be a scope hawk). DALMD88FO, your group took the worst beating and continue to do so. Losing your job while others picked up time and hundreds of 50 seat RJ's operated by non Delta pilots ramped up had to hurt (all the while you scrambling to figure out how to feed your family).

The more recent hires...it sucks for them too (just not as bad is it did for you). Listen, the company will try another scope sale. They will target the more senior guys and koolaid drinkers. That is how they get these things to pass. If both of you guys and all of us want to prevent more stagnation (as the company fails to replace retiring pilots, gets more productivity and keeps throwing bones to large RJ pilots, JV partners, Code Share partners, Virgin Atlantic, GOL, Aeromexico...etc) then stop the madness. Hold your unions feet to the fire and for the love....quit voting for contracts that further suffocate your career as a Delta Air Lines pilot.

Well put Jack

The more I think about it that's one of the worst neighbor stories I've heard outside of spouse swaps.

He was using my water to refill his pool that had a leak. The neighbor on the other side also awoke one Saturday morning to find him in his kitchen making a pot of coffee. His excuse to him was that he didn't want to wake him as he was out of coffee and thought he wouldn't mind. Needless to say we both got our keys back from him after that one. I also made him pay the difference in my water bill, as I told him I would go to the " authorities" if he didn't. Thankfully they moved about a year later.

I agree. What I meant was for 125 seats we offer A319 and 737, 150 seats MD88 and A320, 160 seats MD90 or 738, 180 seats 752, 739, A321 and so on. I sure hope we don't try E195 off property and 717 on property.

Sorry to hear about your furlough. I feel terrible for the guys who had to endure a furlough this last round. A good buddy of mine was a furlough returnee and we both sat in the same basic indoc class, so I'm very familiar with the sacrifices some had to endure.

I am well familiar of the downside risk in this business. It would be foolish after seeing soo many out of work in the early 2000nds to think otherwise.

It seems you are trying to draw parallels between your experience and mine. So yes, if you strictly compare my career to that of others there are those who's careers took a far worse trajectory than mine.

I'm not looking for anyone's pity. But if you compare the scenarios you mentioned above and what is happening now there is a huge fundamental difference:

• Our company is financially successful, not just a little, a lot, and has been for nearly 4 years...
• We have new aircraft coming, some of which are actually growth aircraft and they are just months away.
• Retirements are starting to pick up and will continue to accelerate.

From a "good news" perspective we should be sitting pretty. Yet somehow my own personal experience doesn't match the trends.
If I chart my career against the companies financial success I fail to find a correlation. In speaking to some of my buddies, that sentiment is shared. The good news always seems "just around the corner." Yet somehow someone keeps moving the cheese...

Don't get me wrong, the evidence is overwhelming things will improve, soon. Still I would be a fool not to use past experience to temper any early enthusiasm.

So when t is overtly optimistic, his perspective is informedd by his experience. When my recent optimism wanes that is similarly directly related to the latest AE...

The downside risk is still here, but the upside rewards keep getting trimmed. More codeshares, new rapidly growing foreign competitors and bigger aircraft will take even more bites going forward.

All of these threats and more will have a negative impact on one of the last remaining promises in this business -- our careers.

It behooves us as a group to aggressively work to reduce and stem any current and future negative impact on our careers...

Cheers
George

I guess your neighbor got transferred to MDW?

Ding Ding Ding!

And just to put a finer point on it:
I finally decided to do something about it. I set up a recurring pay deduction to the ALPA PAC. Before all y'all start going off on the usual ALPA vs DPA stuff, consider that the only thing that matters to anybody in DC is money. Everything else is secondary.
It's not right, its not good but that's just how it is...

So we can sit on the sidelines and lament an unfair system or we can pool our resources and affect some change.

I finally put on my big-boy pants and will be putting my money where my mouth is...

Cheers
George

I want to thank you for doing that.

Jack, Unfortunately its a lot more than the senior guys, number wise they are a small percentage...those yes numbers are coming from a junior and mid seniority.:(