Airline Pilot Central Forums - Any "Latest & Greatest" about Delta?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by duder (Post 1496930)

Sorry to interrupt the Tennessee love fest but is there any truth to the rumor that the 717s will be further delayed because there are no Feds to certify it do to the shutdown? Sure hope that is not the case.

That's the newest rumor. Ready to go BUT...

I think if this gubmint shutdown thingy goes past Oct. 17th, which very well may happen, not having Feds to Cert. the 717 & the Pacific LOA are going to be the LEAST of our worries. READ: Govt. tailspin.

GJ

P.S. Not a "sky is falling" type of guy, but things are seriously broken inside the beltway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnso29 (Post 1497134)

LOA #13-03 also reduces the permitted average number of passengers per flight segment on foreign air carriers from 175 to 100 on Fifth Freedom flight segments between Japan and:

This is pure academic nonsense. Our previous scope required 316 slots to be operated by Delta out of NRT. And as the MEC letter stated in its very first paragraph: "The MEC was informed by the company several months ago that it would no longer be in compliance with Section 1.E.2 of the Pilot Working Agreement..." Not: "hey guys we're foreseeing a problem down the road so lets talk." Just a letter to our union saying Delta will no longer be in compliance with Section 1.

Any protections you think you see in this LOA needs to be read in the context of being notified that Delta will no longer be in compliance with our Section 1.

Carl

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnso29 (Post 1497134)

The 316 slots resulted in 116,400 block hours, or 54% of the Pacific flying block hours.

Section 1 E. 2. e. has been added, to now read:

e. passenger seats on any Fifth Freedom flight segment between Japan and Asian cities beyond Japan unless the Company scheduled during the previous rolling 12 month period, measured at the end of each calendar quarter starting December 31st, 2013, the greater of:

1) 182,750 aircraft block hours of Pacific flying, or

2) 85 percent of the total aircraft block hours of Pacific flying in the previous measurement period.

Note: The Company will be excused from compliance with this provision in the event a circumstance over which the Company does not have control is the cause of such non-compliance.

Or our union could simply say: "The MEC was informed by the company that it would no longer be in compliance with Section 1 of the Pilot Working Agreement..."

Carl

Quote:

Originally Posted by scambo1 (Post 1497174)

Totally off topic...I've been considering buying a used porsche Carrera. I'm looking at 1999-2003 cabriolets. Anyone got one or experience with one that cares to chime in on quality, durability, negatives, etc. it will be a toy car.

I had a 1999 Carrera Coupe for 11 years, loved the car. The early water cooled boxer engines had problems with leaky rear main seals, if you can't get documentation of replacement, have a good Porsche mechanic have a look. Also, find a good mechanic in your area that specializes in the marque. Their shop rates, while high, are usually much better than what you find at the dealership. Tire replacement cost can be a real eye-opener, depending on the size of your wheels, the rear tires run upwards of $500 a pop and depending on the amount of driving gusto you utilize, you may only get 20,000 miles or less on a set. The good news is that there are many low-mileage specimens for sale at reasonable prices, and most have been babied by their owners. I had very few major mechanical issues with my car over the course of the years, and the costs I did incur were offset by the smile that car put on my face every time I drove it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by scambo1 (Post 1497174)

Go here
996 - 6speedonline.com Forums

Also, Porsche Cars North America will be opening up down the street from Delta HQ in about a year. That place will be like Disneyland for car guys.

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnso29 (Post 1497127)

Is it People Express trying to get up and running? Or Xtra Airways(who was bought by People Express) doing more Spirit flying?

What you said. I think. I don't know about the Spirit flying part.

People Express Airlines (2012) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl Spackler (Post 1497193)

Our previous scope required 316 slots to be operated by Delta out of NRT.

No it didn't. Which was the problem.

I'm still not 100% sure I like some aspects of this LOA, and I definitely think we should have spent a little time getting to know it before a MEMRAT validation. But what you said is incorrect, and it goes to the heart of the matter: there was no guarantee of 316 slots. There was just a requirement to maintain that level in order to maintain beyond Japan codeshares. Which weren't all that numerous.

I'll leave it to everyone to judge for themselves whether this LOA is good enough in terms of new protections, but there is no doubt that we really didn't have anything of any significance protecting NRT flying under the previous language.

The problem I see is that this LOA might lower the bar on our share of the flying, and perhaps offer opportunities to sign up for new codeshares to fund the loss. The 100 seat restrictions to China/Taiwan/Korea that Johnso mentioned are ludicrous. How often would we have anything near 100 pax connecting on a partner?

Quote:

Originally Posted by scambo1 (Post 1497079)

3. Hub issues aside, with the questionable long term future of the 757, they were concerned about the beach market loss and outsourcing of that flying...again, how does this protect dal pilot jobs?

The section only applies to 5th freedom codeshare onwards from Japan to Japan/China/Korea only. Neither GUM nor SPN would be allowed to go to codeshare would they as they aren't 5th freedom because they are U.S. territories right?

"passenger seats on any Fifth Freedom flight segment between Japan and Asian cities beyond Japan..."

The new language protects flying from GUM to other Japanese and Asian cities that bypasses NRT. There are already examples of bypassing NRT on Delta metal. HNL-KIX is upgrading from 763 to 744 next summer. HNL-FUK is a service that remains. Both bypass Tokyo and are supporting own routes that would have connected through Tokyo or had ability to codeshare through NRT.

I don't see how the beach markets have anything to do with 5th Freedom codeshare from NRT to Japan/China/Korea? ROR isn't owned by any of those....?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearjerk (Post 1497192)

P.S. Not a "sky is falling" type of guy, but things are seriously broken inside the beltway.

Agreed! It's a train wreck and has been for awhile. That's why I write.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hitimefurl (Post 1497268)

I think you are reading the post wrong. The concern isn't codeshare between NRT and the beach cities, it's that the beach cities could loose some traffic and codeshare can remain.

Look at the MSP update with my emphasis in bold

Quote:

LOA 13-04
Following a detailed briefing by our negotiators, the MEC ratified LOA 13-04. As we posted in previous updates, negotiations were precipitated by management operating below the 316 slot floor at NRT. Contractually, the MEC had the ability to force management to cease code-share flights in/out of NRT (to other Asian cities) at that point. Those code-share flights carry less than 1 percent of the total passengers for Delta at NRT.
At the August MEC meeting, we directed the Negotiating Committee to seek enhancements to our scope by converting “slots” to “block hours” and expanding our scope to all Pacific flying . . . not just NRT. Our logic was based on the following:

Pilots don’t fly slots; we fly block hours. Slots represent a frequency, not a segment length.
The Japanese government is clearly trying to tilt the playing field in favor of their two
government-supported airlines (JAL and ANA) by moving flying to Haneda and blocking
Fifth-Freedom rights for Delta.
We never ignore an opportunity to enhance scope.

The LOA establishes the following:

 Removes the minimum slot requirement in NRT and replaces it with a block hour minimum of the greater of 182,750 hours, or 85 percent of the scheduled flying for the previous rolling 12 months, measured at the end of each quarter. This new block hour limit is subject to “force majeure.” For reference, the 316 slot floor was 80 percent of the slots in NRT.
 Established a new definition for Pacific flying that will include all flying between North America and Asia or Oceania (“Oceania” is Australia and surrounding islands in the South Pacific). This includes operations between Hawaii and Asia, but excludes flying between the Continental United States and Hawaii.
 Reduces the number of code-share passengers that can be carried by foreign airlines on flights between Japan and mainland China (includes Hong Kong), Taiwan, and Korea from a monthly average of 175 per flight, to a monthly average of 100 per flight.

Most of the MEC debate centered on three areas:

Are the block hour protections a good trade?
Will the protections be relevant if Delta proceeds with its Pacific strategy?
Does the language in the LOA cover all flying that should be protected?

The LOA was ratified on a vote of 15–4, with both Steve and Ron voting against, based upon the fact that it exposes us to a possible reduction of up to 15 percent of the block hours flown in Asia, while still permitting code sharing between Japan and mainland China, Taiwan, and Korea. They felt that the “South of NRT” flying would be vulnerable if the market softens. Although he had no vote on the LOA, Mark’s perspective is that the LOA protects much more flying, and the reduction in permitted code sharing from a monthly average of 175 to a monthly average of 100 passengers per flight is an enhancement.

Looking at the data load for next year, even with the Yen, much of the Delta traffic between HNL and Japan is scheduled for larger metal as you pointed out. That doesn't imply a softened market to me but time will tell. The Negotiators Notepad shows one example where a 3 flight draw down in the Pacific would trigger the new block hour restriction where there was no protection before. I think this also protects the HNL-SYD codeshare we were worried about on HAL?