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

Call me crazy but like my boy acl said unless we get some scope control we r in a bad place for lack of nasty words. Delta north has a lot of old planes and they r gonna go to rest!! Sorry but facts r facts!! Delta south has some that r going to sleep but not as many. We need to look out for each other in the future!! One mind one body. For once let's be a pilot force!! Keep jobs where everyone wants them!!!

That is it in a nut shell. Education of the group, so that we can make informed decisions and be unified come 2012.

vprMatrix

10-01-2009 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowplay (Post 686912)

I should have responded to the original poster that questioned "FMLA" instead of you. I used your post, and for that I apologize. I can understand how you took my comments as argumentative. They were not meant to be.

What you got incorrect was the intent of Section 13.H. The operative words are "A pilot WILL be eligible for family leave..." That's why ours is contractual in nature, and not completely governed by the HPRM as amended by management. The February, 2003 policies defined in our contract are what determine eligibility. If you meet those criteria, Family Leave is a contractual benefit that cannot be denied by management.

It is unfortunate that you didn't receive adequate answers to your question on family leave when you called. I've used it twice (99 and 2002) and both times were pain free.

Just one more point, I don't ostensibly represent the pilot group. Slowplay is an anonymous webboard pseudonym whose writings and opinions are his own. Insert the standard fiction disclaimer here: "Any similarity of postings here to real life, persons, institutions, or events is unintentional!:D

Thanks for the reply. I should have toned down my post after rereading.

I guess I will stop arguing the difference in Family Leave and FMLA but to be clear within the first 60 sec of my initial call to H.R. about FMLA I was told bluntly that pilots and FA were not eligible for FMLA but that if I filled out all the FMLA paperwork they would review my situation for approval.

My leave was for the birth of a child BTW. For cases involving your own illness or care for family members the process that Delta uses would have been identical to FMLA.

Take care.

Oh yea, sorry for connecting unintentional dots. :cool:

Wasatch Phantom

10-01-2009 06:21 AM

Could someone please set me straight on the 757...

I'm under the impression that it is simply put, a heck of an airplane; reliable, excellent performance and economical (relatively) to operate.

I realize that some of the individual airframes are kind of long in the tooth, but why not refurbish/overhaul those airframes? What makes the 5500 series less desireable?

My uninformed impression is that overhauling a 757 would be a lot cheaper than buying a new aircraft, and I don't believe there is a new one out there that can do what the 757 does.

iceman49

10-01-2009 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acl65pilot (Post 687181)

The current policy is still in place.

We will see how many gate agents leave. Most like that time. They way I read the memo, it was up to them. My guess is that they will hang out unless they are headed to the bus.

The new policy is a result of the discussions with ACS and their former NW counterparts. Once our doors were closed the agents typically left to attend to another aircraft, I believe the DL ACS saw the efficency in this move...additionally you won't be standing in the jetway when its -20. We rarely have had problems, and if you have to get out, the jetway is far enough away to blow the slides.

Sink r8

10-01-2009 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iceman49 (Post 687246)

This makes sense in the context of closing the flight early, and it seems to me that NW closed/pushed much earlier, i.e. 20 prior on international operations (correct me if I'm wrong). If somehting happens, and you need the agent back, you still have a good shot at D-0.

I don't know if we lose revenue by not allowing access to runners, but I do know that we don't normally push much more than 5 prior. In this context, you want agents standing by, so little problems don't become lengthy problems. Which is why we've evolved into this policy of having the agent standing by, which seems to give them a much more personal interest in on-time departures, which makes it all the more puzzling that we're re-inventing the wheel once again.

Assuming we can fully adopt the NW approach, and actually get paid w/out the beacon, I don't really care if there is an agent or not. It's this "partial adopt" stuff that annoys me, such as the commuter policy.

acl65pilot

10-01-2009 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iceman49 (Post 687246)

I understand that, and with this move hopefully there will be a policy change on block out times. I had heard this was coming and this is a good indication we are leaning that way.

On a side note, about twice a month we would have someone who would want to get off. With the agent there, we just told them to move the jetway back and the process was done in a minute or two. Now it may take five to ten depending on how far the agent as gone after moving the jetway.

Sink r8

10-01-2009 06:40 AM

...Speaking of Commuter Policies

Commuters should pay attention to this...

Source: Document in JFK Pilot Lounge, and JFK CPO.

Apparently, ACS has decided to implement a new policy of locking out kiosk nonrev activation either 45 minutes, or 1 hour (depending on the city). You can walk up to the gate and ask to be activated, at which time you go to the bottom of the stanby list.

Examples of this: 45 minutes in ATL, 60 minutes at JFK.

I don't know if this is a partial adopt of a NW policy, but it's definitely new for the South side, and all commuters should ensure this does not stand.

acl65pilot

10-01-2009 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wasatch Phantom (Post 687243)

It is a great jet, fairly efficient for the load it carries, but it is heavy, most are requiring very expensive D checks and some cannot get winglets.

They are heavy. A 73N has at least 1/3 less redundancy which makes it a lot lighter and more efficient.

The early 5500 block 757's have a few issues that will not allow the winglet mods to be done. One is the wiring at the end of the wing, the other is the wing box strength. Add to that the heavy check (we can buy a new RJ for that price) and it makes sense to some to park em.

I know they see the 767-300ER going up to 20 more years. We are only talking about some of the 757's. I think NWA has 32 of these block 5500 jets.

acl65pilot

10-01-2009 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sink r8 (Post 687254)

I guess they can do that, but that is going to create more waves.

It might be in response to the pressure they are getting for not letting Non-revs on at the last minute. (This is a big deal that is getting a ton of attention, and this seems like a off the cuff response to it.)

Bucking Bar

10-01-2009 06:54 AM

How can they add a commuting flight crew member to the BOTTOM of the standby list, as opposed to where they would be using their pass eligibility date?

If I read this correctly, now commuters in back simply need to ensure they are activated 60 min, or 45 min, as appropriate for activation and for listed by proper priority?

Funny how ACS rigs the rules so that their leisure travel is not effected by Flight Operations people trying to get to work and go home. Seems like travel directly related to the revenue generating functions of this Company would be prioritized higher. Makes me wonder if anyone here realizes this isn't a hobby, but rather a business that needs employees in position to make a profit.

Flight Crew Member's late listings are not the reason why we leave non rev's at the gate. The reasons we leave non-revs: