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Old 04-05-2014 | 09:22 PM
  #153311  
flyallnite's Avatar
Gets Weekends Off
 
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From: Stay THIRSTY, my friends!
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Originally Posted by 80ktsClamp
Is that the one where the guy flopped in the states but was a massive sensation in South Africa? If so, I've heard really good things about it!
I heard one one of his songs a few years ago and thought it was new music. Shazamed it and bought it still thinking that, until I saw the movie. Couldn't believe this story... very talented person.
Old 04-06-2014 | 12:21 AM
  #153312  
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It's actually quite hard to meet anyone from APC.
I think I met md88Driver the other day in ATL. Can't remember for sure, as he was jinking and jiving as we all do when someone catches us reading APCforums in the lounge lol.

Every time I'm in ATL lounge, I walk around looking for some big tall guy staring at a laptop, hoping to meet FTB. I give the underboob hand signal, but no one will admit they know it. Some rambunctious 744 Capt was on my jumpseat the other day, but he claimed he knew of no "Carl", so I didn't ask any more questions. I'm pretty sure I'd recognize Buzz if I get to LAX, but I don't get out there at 2300 when he checks in very often. No one I bump into in PHX will admit to Ferdness.

It's actually quite hard to meet other APC browsers. We need a better code-phrase we can throw out there on the JS, something like "Brass Monkey" that's easy to remember and will be noticed by other APCers.

Ideas?
Old 04-06-2014 | 01:59 AM
  #153313  
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Originally Posted by Roadkill
It's actually quite hard to meet anyone from APC.
I think I met md88Driver the other day in ATL. Can't remember for sure, as he was jinking and jiving as we all do when someone catches us reading APCforums in the lounge lol.

Every time I'm in ATL lounge, I walk around looking for some big tall guy staring at a laptop, hoping to meet FTB. I give the underboob hand signal, but no one will admit they know it. Some rambunctious 744 Capt was on my jumpseat the other day, but he claimed he knew of no "Carl", so I didn't ask any more questions. I'm pretty sure I'd recognize Buzz if I get to LAX, but I don't get out there at 2300 when he checks in very often. No one I bump into in PHX will admit to Ferdness.

It's actually quite hard to meet other APC browsers. We need a better code-phrase we can throw out there on the JS, something like "Brass Monkey" that's easy to remember and will be noticed by other APCers.

Ideas?
Perhaps leaving you fly open could be a universal signal that one frequents the "latest and greatest" thread. I usually forget anyway and the subtle breeze is an nice accompaniment after a healthy, but responsible dose of gold bond.

Second thought, walking around looking at peoples' crotches might be a little weird.
Old 04-06-2014 | 02:26 AM
  #153314  
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Joined: Jun 2009
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From: Captain
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Originally Posted by Bucking Bar
Sounds so simple, eh?

You are encouraged to employ Google and read up on the National Mediation Board, the Railway Labor Act, the procedures and the methods used to negotiate our contract.

Also, I would point out that C2012 actually met or exceeded your stated goals in every area, but one.

As you read up on the legal environment we must operate under, you will come to the realization that stating objective goals in public as you suggest could be very counter productive to reaching those goals. In the most simple terms the process of mediation implies meeting in the middle. If you state your goals you've actually just set your ceiling. Management will then rest the floor lower ... when they meet you "half way" then you've lost. ... and Purple Drank would constantly remind you how you fell short.

Sounds simple, but publishing is a really lousy strategy. We can get into this in greater depth if you want, but off the cuff:
  • Sets a ceiling over pilots
  • Mid point can be reset lower by management
  • Sets expectations by membership
  • NMB might find bad faith for refusal to negotiate from your published goals
  • Pilots likely to argue over published goals (think the goals are too much X and not enough Y)
  • Goals may need to change as a result of an external factor (FAR117 for instance)
Wow.. Sounds like somebody with understanding, as opposed to the need for emotional stimulation.

If it were as only simple as some make it out to be, and our volunteers weren't so lazy, we they would be writing us all monthly million dollar checks.

Don't get wrong, ALPA has its warts, but after six months of DPA, most people would think in comparison that the DPA would have been rolling in the hay with a diaretic toad.
Old 04-06-2014 | 03:57 AM
  #153315  
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Originally Posted by Herkflyr
Between the robocall snafu and our perspectives on PD's posts, has anyone noticed the extraordinary improvement to PBS, namely the Award Pairing Number if Departing On (Ordered) new bid option?

That is what guys have been asking for for years--the ability to rank order trips on the same line and avoid the drudgery and additional bid preferences of having to do it on separate lines.

Good work PBS committee!
It is a great improvement!
Old 04-06-2014 | 04:19 AM
  #153316  
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From: Permanently scarred
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Originally Posted by Alan Shore
Not at all, and I see us as having both.

As I understand it, the goals of our MEC are, "To engage anywhere necessary to address opportunities and threats; always protecting and advancing Delta pilot careers, pay, working conditions, benefits and job security."

Accountability is ever-present in the fact that our reps are up for re-election every three years and that they appear before us at least every quarter at LEC meetings to report on their activities and to take our input and our criticism.

Why can't DALPA set goals that they can be held accountable to? Enough ether, feel-good goals that allow those in leadership positions to claim success no matter how ineffective they may end up being. By contrast our company has set the following goals and expects their success to be measured by them:
  • 10-12% annual operating margins
  • Annual EPS growth of 10-15%
  • 15% return on invested capital
  • $5+ billion annual operating cash flrow with ~50% reinvested back into the business
  • Investment grade balance sheet metrics, including $7 billion of adjusted net debt by 2015
Old 04-06-2014 | 04:49 AM
  #153317  
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From: Douglas Aerospace post production Flight Test & Work Around Engineering bulletin dissembler
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Originally Posted by GunshipGuy
Why can't DALPA set goals that they can be held accountable to? Enough ether, feel-good goals that allow those in leadership positions to claim success no matter how ineffective they may end up being. By contrast our company has set the following goals and expects their success to be measured by them:
  • 10-12% annual operating margins
  • Annual EPS growth of 10-15%
  • 15% return on invested capital
  • $5+ billion annual operating cash flrow with ~50% reinvested back into the business
  • Investment grade balance sheet metrics, including $7 billion of adjusted net debt by 2015
Because management telling the Company's owners what they expect is not the same as "negotiating."

If you ask ALPA's leadership what they expect ... they might even be able to answer that question.

Understand that both ALPA and Management are ships floating in an ocean called the marketplace. Management (even when things are going well) get their forward looking statements wrong as often as they get them right. Most of the Q&A from investors (and from pilots) is comparing forward looking statements to reality then asking, "what changed ?"
Old 04-06-2014 | 04:54 AM
  #153318  
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Can't abide NAI
 
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From: Douglas Aerospace post production Flight Test & Work Around Engineering bulletin dissembler
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Originally Posted by forgot to bid
what if the aliens are hot women?

see I imagine a race of alien women that misunderstood hydraulic fluid to be more important than electricity and cellphone signals. So they come and suck all the hydraulic fluid away, but, we have the maddog and fight back.
It is more that the designers at Douglas fell into sin and depravity. The creator decided to with hold his air from their wings so that all would perish, but Pratt and Whitney was sent to save Douglas from it's sin. Only through the sacrifice of Pratt and Whitney by fire and smoke is the creator sufficiently pleased to allow Douglas to continue to besmirch aviation.

(yeah, just watched Noah...)
Old 04-06-2014 | 05:47 AM
  #153319  
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Originally Posted by LeineLodge
As one of the 600+ Delta pilots that volunteers on your behalf, I find your level of disdain for your fellow pilots extremely distasteful.

Having seen "how the sausage is made" on a few occasions I can absolutely say you're speaking out of your posterior. With a very rare exception here and there, our guys do an excellent job working on your (and all our) behalf, having nothing but our collective best interest at heart.

If you have constructive criticism, or are actively participating to make it better, then I think we all welcome your input. However, your generalizing/disparaging other Delta pilots continuously shows a lack of class.
Having done a little bit of volunteer work myself, you need to realize that opinions & attitudes come in all shapes and sizes, and that "unity" doesn't necessarily mean unanimity, holding hands, telling war stories or singing folk songs.

"Everyone's opinion is important to us". Sez so right here on the little card they left on my pillow at the hotel. If you are going to require that all opinions be the emotional equivalent of neatly typed (in triplicate), double spaced, 1 inch margins, and page numbers in the upper right hand corner, I suspect you will be continue to be disappointed.

Nu
Old 04-06-2014 | 06:05 AM
  #153320  
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From: DAL FO
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Originally Posted by NuGuy
Having done a little bit of volunteer work myself, you need to realize that opinions & attitudes come in all shapes and sizes, and that "unity" doesn't necessarily mean unanimity, holding hands, telling war stories or singing folk songs.

"Everyone's opinion is important to us". Sez so right here on the little card they left on my pillow at the hotel. If you are going to require that all opinions be the emotional equivalent of neatly typed (in triplicate), double spaced, 1 inch margins, and page numbers in the upper right hand corner, I suspect you will be continue to be disappointed.

Nu
Point taken, and I am not advocating for a kumbaya yes-fest.

My post was specifically aimed at PD's (mis)characterization that DALPA worker bees are lazy, ineffective and out for their own advancement by carving out "career" committee positions rather than flying the line. While there certainly have been some that might fit that description, the VAST and I emphasize VAST majority of guys do ALPA work because they want to make things better.

It is not the sweet deal that some make it out to be. I actually had to take a large step back from doing ALPA work as it was sucking too much time away from my family life, and also because I became a pilot to fly planes, not a desk. Those that are currently doing the work, do so with my gratitude. While I may disagree with their methods, results or politics I still appreciate their work on my behalf.

PD's one liner sniper shots at these guys, which are largely unfounded, was what I took issue with. I had him as the sole resident on my ignore list for a long time, but as you correctly point out, he does bring a healthy measure of contrarian views to the party. It's simply the delivery and unbridled disdain for some (IMO) really great volunteers that I was addressing. It IS possible to dissent without disrespecting...
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