Now, Now T. No politics, even though you are 100% correct!

Athena. That is a name from the past. There was some question as to conflicts of interest and expertise. Athena was well compensated for their efforts. They did a nice job with the first sale. DALPA and Athena completely botched the second distribution, SLOA 19.

PSA! Just packed the Gold Bond for summer time flying(don't use it during the cooler months, so it's more appreciated now). Anyway, if you see a pilot in the Atlanta lounge with a little extra spring in his step, show me the shocker. Y'all have a good weekend.

Just as an example... OK, it lost $41 million as a "profit center". In Q1, DAL's fuel costs were $3.03/gal. LUV's costs were $3.06/gal. Since DAL uses more fuel than the country of Denmark, (true statement, look it up) I would say that the $41M "loss" is no bfd.....

We've been 'told' time and time again that a strong healthy balance sheet will be the best route to more compensation. So far, I've (personally) not seen it. I for one am tired of trading productivity and approved harassment for a few extra dollars, all the while I'm flying more and getting nickled and dimed by medical expenses (anybody looked at our vision plan? We're pilots for crying out loud!) and reduced profit sharing. And now we are even 'negotiating' to keep a part of our contract in force! If people aren't willing to tell DALPA enough is enough, by way of rejecting any future agreement that doesn't measure up to our level of contribution to the bottom line, then we deserve what we get, which I assure you will be more of the same. There are many ways to increase compensation without scaring off investors or starting a riot among non contract employees. More 401K, better trip and duty rigs, better compensation for training and vacation, and a much, much better medical plan for starters...

One thing that everyone seems to miss is Trainer only has to not lose money to be a successful acquisition.

Trainer is all about dependable supply chain. We need a way to ensure that there is an uninterrupted supply of aviation fuel. Aviation fuel isn't the main product of refineries. Airlines are subject to the refineries seasonal switching from one product to another. This results in wide swings in availability and price.

RA was correct to attempt to assure availability. Trainer does that. By better controlling supply, there may be a smoothing, or even lowering of price. That remains to be seen. But, half of the goals have already been met. We have regular supply.

Anybody own AAPL? Holy smokes!

Another fellow gold bond aviator. Once you start it's difficult to stop. Soon it becomes a year round addiction. I will be strolling through the A lounge in a few hours. Looking for the fellow gold bond and APC'ers

Ah. Stephen Presser and the Athena Group. Ex ALPA attorney from Cohen, Weiss and Simon that left in 1993 and decided to switch gears and become an investment banker. THE investment banker for ALPA.

Why that task you mentioned was never bid out to other investment banks, Chase, Goldman, BofA, etc is yet another question. Why ALWAYS Presser?

God forbid establish relationships with a real Wall Street Bank and have access to their E and FA. Maybe we would have made some different decisions vis a vis profit sharing, 4-8-3-3 etc.

I try to not use it during the winter months so as to enjoy the rush during the more "musty" times of the year. However, like the recreational heroin user, my full time addiction is just a matter of time.